An Uncommon Soldier
by Rancho Relaxo
Summary: Edward is a soldier who is recruited into the Wardens after he gives a lift to Duncan and his Dalish recruit. OC Origin, F Mahariel. R and R welcome!  Chapter 8 added 1st June.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes: This is a Human commoner Origin and subsequent story. My main character is Edward Lennox (I used lists of popular surnames from medieval Ireland for the surname). I have mentioned a place called Alamar, which is marked on the DA:O map on an island northeast of Denerim.  
There is also a Dalish elf in this story, however I have not really developed her character much as the main focus is the soldier. Her name was Náriel but I changed it to Nereid because Náriel is too similar to Mathariel for my liking.  
Apart from that, R and R if you like. There will be subsequent chapters I believe, and I will pick up the pace as the story covers more familiar scenes from the game.

As usual, disclaimer: Bioware owns all the Dragon Age Origins stuff except for the names of my characters etc etc. 

Part 1

The sun shone down brightly on the overgrown country road, baking off the moisture from the rain earlier in the day. Edward was pleased, as the fine weather meant that he would reach his farm before dark. If possible he didn't want to be out on the road at night. He felt the weight of his sword, a faithful friend during his army days, against his back. He had heard rumours of bandits, highwaymen and more sinister creatures with greater frequency of late. Better safe than sorry, he thought. He looked over his shoulder to the horse he had just collected from Maven's stud. This mare would foal in the spring, and with a good crop already cut and loaded at home, things were finally looking up for Edward. He had kept himself busy since his wife was taken from him, finding hard work a theraputic kind of grieving. His thoughts still wandered to her, especially at night, but even that wound was slowly healing.

As he reached the crest of the next hill, he noticed a pair of figures off in the distance ahead. One was tall, one shorter. An occasional glint of reflected sunlight showed that one of them was wearing armour. Wary of bandits, Edward clicked his tongue to quicken the pace of his mount, while also pulling the mare alongside. As he approached, he was able to make out some more details of the travellers. The taller one had very light coloured armour and a pair of swords strapped to his back. He (Edward was pretty sure it was a he, despite his robes) had dark hair pulled back into a pony tail and his skin was swarthy. The shorter one of the two was a blonde woman - he could see her bare midriff and her figure, and her ears indicated elven blood. They must have heard him approach, as they stopped and turned towards him as he drew closer.

Edward did not think these were bandits. There was something about the man he could not quite put his finger on. He looked at the woman closely - there were complex markings on her face and neck. "Is she a Dalish?" he thought.

He pulled the horse up alongside the travellers. "Greetings, strangers, and well met" he said. "What brings you to the Bannorn on this fine afternoon?" he added.

"Greetings to you, friend. My name is Duncan, a Grey Warden. My companion is Nereid, a recruit from the Dalish tribes" said the taller traveller.

"Grey Wardens? Truly?"

"Yes indeed."

"So the rumours we have been hearing are true? There are darkspawn again?"

"I'm afraid so. We are heading to Ostagar, there to join the King. A darkspawn horde has risen in the Kocari Wilds."

Edward unslung a water skin and tossed it down to Duncan, who deftly caught it. He nodded his thanks, and passed it to Nereid. She opened the stopper and took a deep draught, then passed it back to Duncan. Edwards' brow furrowed as he looked at the Dalish elf.

"Duncan, I am taking these two horses back to my farm, they're going to be pulling my harvest down to Lothering tomorrow. It would seem that our roads lie together for at least that far. Can I offer you some assistance? You can both share my mare, you won't need a saddle, she has a very sweet disposition. I can offer you shelter for the night in my farm and a ride to Lothering in the morning."

Duncan smiled "that is a most generous offer indeed! But who am I to thank for such generosity?"

"My name is Edward" said Edward. "Former soldier turned farmer" he added after a short pause.

He hopped down from his horse and led the mare over towards Duncan and Nereid. Edward was a full head higher than Duncan, and towered over Nereid. His curly black hair and neatly trimmed beard framed a tanned, kindly looking face with piercing light blue eyes. He bent down towards the elf. "Nereid, this mare is named Zora, which means dawn. She's big, but gentle, and if you give her a pat she'll get to know you."

Nereid nodded "these horses are so much bigger than the halla." Nereid began patting Zora's neck with a smile on her face.

"Yes - well in this case, Zora and Rhombus over there are pack horses, bred for bulk and strength. Have you ridden a horse before, Nereid?" asked Edward.

"No, not a horse. Sometimes one of the halla would let me ride them in the corral, but that was a few seasons ago" she replied.

"Duncan, you first - here" said Edward, forming a stirrup with his fingers for Duncan to clamber up onto Zora. Once Duncan was up, Edward turned to Nereid. "Nereid, you'll need to step on my shoulder to swing up in front of Duncan, who should be able to pull you up." The Dalish stepped into Edwards' finger stirrup, then onto his shoulder, and Duncan hefted her up in front.

Edward re mounted his horse and clicked his tongue, bringing the pair of horses into line and heading towards his farm, some distance along the road. Duncan passed back his water skin with a nod of thanks.

After a few minutes of listening to the steady rhythym of the horses hoofbeats, Duncan asked "Edward, you mentioned that you were a soldier before?"

"Yes, I was in Maric's eastern division for twelve years or so. I was one of the soldiers who fought at Alamar when the Tevinters tried to take it six or seven years ago."

"Ahh yes, a long campaign if I recall correctly" remarked Duncan.

"Eighteen months of guerilla warfare. I was lucky though, my company made it through with fairly light losses."

"Where is Al.. Alamar?" asked Nereid.

"It's on an island northeast of Denerim - a nice place to visit except for the bloody Tevinters."

"So you served there, how did you come to be a farmer, if you don't mind my asking?" said Duncan.

"Well, I was a captain by the end of the siege, and they were cycling troops back to Denerim, so I was in the city when good King Cailan was crowned about 5 years ago. The king put out this proclamation that the victorious and stalwart defenders of Alamar should be allowed to take early retirement from the army. I had always wanted some time off to raise a family, so I took it. And a few years later, here I am."

"It seems to me that you have earned your retirement, friend. A siege could not have been easy to survive" commented Duncan.

"Thank you, Duncan. The retirement did have a catch, I can be recalled to service if necessary. I'm a bit surprised I haven't had the call yet if things are stirring in the south as you say."

"Perhaps the Arl here is still raising his troops."

"I expect so. The West Hills bannorn isn't very large. We're sort of sandwiched in between Highever and the templars over at the lake. I do expect the recall though, and you'll see when we get to the farm that I've already begun storing things and moving stock off to other farms" said Edward. "There's still plenty to eat there. Hmm that reminds me," he mumbled, reaching down into his saddle bag. He pulled out a small wooden box, slid open the lid and exracted a couple of pieces of a dark brown, leathery looking substance. He closed the box and passed it over to Duncan and Nereid. "Try some of this, Duncan - it's spicy smoked beef strips. Great for chewing on while on the road" said Edward.

Duncan slid open the box and held it for Nereid. The elf sniffed the box and raised her eyebrows. She grabbed a couple of pieces, and Duncan followed suit, sliding the lid back on the box and passing it back to Edward.

"Ma serannas" said Nereid with a smile, chewing on her strips happily. Duncan took a bite and grinned. "You make these yourself, I take it?" he asked.

"Yes - they're easy to make, store well and taste pretty decent" said Edward.

After another half an hour or so of steady travel, the farm came into view as the travellers crested a hill. It was a neat farmhouse flanked by a barn and a couple of smaller sheds, surrounded by golden, freshly harvested fields of wheat and oats. A small orchard stretched out behind the barn, with apple, pear, apricot and plum trees in neat rows. The travellers made their way up a well worn track to a clearing in front of the house and dismounted from the pack horses.

"Welcome home, Grey Wardens" said Edward. "I'll unlock and get a fire started, and show you where you can freshen up. I still have a few things to do before joining you, but I should only be an hour or so. There's some books and maps inside that might amuse you while I am busy."

Duncan looked at Nereid and said "we do not wish to impose - if there is anything we can do to assist you, please allow us to help."

"Thanks Duncan, but I have to clean up and feed these two," Edward nodded towards the pack horses "then get some things for supper. It's no trouble. If you can keep an eye on the fires inside that would be fine and maybe grab some water from the pump? Just make yourself at home."

Edward unlocked the front door and led them inside. He led them upstairs to a pair of rooms, grabbing a couple of towels from a cupboard at the bottom of the stairs on the way up. Passing a towel to each of the Wardens, Edward said "these rooms should be alright for the night. It shouldn't be too cold tonight but if you need extra blankets there's some in the box at the end of the bed," indicating one of the rooms. With a grin, he went back downstairs to start the main kitchen fire. After that Edward went outside and fetched a bucket of water from the pump, then took it back inside and plonked it on the kitchen table. "Wardens, there's some water down here for you to wash up with, I'll be outside if you need me," he yelled. Edward left to attend to his horses and collect some fresh fruit and vegetables. Meanwhile Duncan and Nereid cleaned themselves up and collected a few buckets of water for their host.

Not much time had passed when Edward came back inside with a basket of fruit and vegetables and a slab of cured meat. Duncan and Nereid were in the kitchen looking at a map on the table. Edward put the food on the bench beside the sink, and proceeded to grab a pitcher from an overhead hook. He went to the corner and drew off a pitcher of ale from the barrel there.

"Highever dark ale" Edward remarked, "will you share a pint?"

Duncan looked at Nereid "certainly" he said. Nereid looked back at Duncan and nodded her head.

"I haven't had ale before, but I have had wine and mead" she commented.

"So tell me, how did you become a Grey Warden recruit?" asked Edward, sitting down and pouring out three pints from the pitcher.

"It's a long story" Nereid replied.

"We have time, we're here overnight" answered Edward.

Nereid sighed and with Duncan filling in some gaps, she told the story of the mirror, the taint and her clan mate Tamlen. After she had finished speaking, Edward nodded and said "you have my sympathies for the loss of your clanmate. I know what it is like to lose someone close to you."

"Indeed? How would you know?" said Nereid bitterly.

"Isn't it obvious? Why do you think there are two empty rooms upstairs? Why am I here alone, when I told you I left the army to raise a family five years ago?"

"Your wife..." began Duncan.

"... died eighteen months ago" completed Edward. "She was in labour with our first child, and the midwife could not reach her in time. I couldn't do anything except make her comfortable until she slipped away. My son was stillborn. So yeah, I do have an idea what it's like to lose someone" he said, focusing his gaze somewhere off in the distance. Nereid's eyes were wide with surprise.

A silence descended in the room before Edward touched the back of Nereid's hand with one finger, just enough to get her attention. "Believe me when I say this, Nereid, try not to think about your loss too much. You'll go mad if you do."

Nereid looked up at Edward, not saying anything. He could read the sadness in her eyes as he was sure she could see his own melancholy.

Duncan finished his ale and reached for the pitcher, helping himself to another drink.

Edward blinked and looked over at Duncan. "Ahh hell, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sour the mood like that" said Edward.

"Apologies are not necessary. All of us have had events in our past that require time to heal. Some more recent than others" said Duncan, looking at Nereid pointedly.

Edward stood up and went to the kitchen bench and began to slice slivers of the cured meat from the speck. Nereid took this as a cue to offer some help, and in a couple of minutes she was slicing and buttering thick pieces of bread. Duncan moved the map away from the table and put out some platters and knives.

After a satisfying meal and light conversation, Edward pulled back the map which Duncan and Nereid had been perusing earlier. "Which part were you looking at, Duncan?" asked Edward.

"I was showing Nereid the way to Ostagar here," he said, indicating the ruined fortress on the map.

"Not much is known about the land further south of there really. It becomes permanently frozen if you go far enough, they say" said Edward, looking at the bottom edge of the map. "I think I have one with more detail, but I drew it a long time ago so it's not as precise as this one" said Edward, going to a cabinet and rifling through a drawer.

He returned with a yellowed roll of parchment and put it down on the table, using salt and pepper shakers to weigh down the scroll while he unrolled it. "Yes, this is the one. It's centred on Lothering and the bottom of the lake, but it does go down to Ostagar as you can see" indicated Edward, pointing at the map.

"Where are we on this map?" asked Nereid.

"We'd be about... here" said Edward, pointing to a spot on the map.

"And tomorrow we are travelling to here?" she asked, pointing to Lothering.

"Yes" said Duncan. "And from there to here" he said, indicating Ostagar.

Nereid let out a yawn. "I think I'll get some sleep then" she said, heading upstairs to her room.

"Not a bad idea. I'll turn in too I believe, Edward. Good night to you" said Duncan, and he followed the elf upstairs.

Edward pondered the maps for a few more minutes, before stacking the platters and going to his own bed.

Duncan rose the next morning and came downstairs to see Nereid and Edward sitting beside each other at the kitchen table. Nereid was eating a bowl of porridge, and Edward was sharpening an axe. There was a half finished bowl in front of Edward from which he would grab a spoonful every so often.

"Ah! Good morning Duncan" said Edward. He pointed at a pot of porridge and indicated for Duncan to help himself. "It will probably be a long day so eat your fill" said Edward.

Duncan grinned and filled a bowl, sitting opposite Edward. He gave the axe a questioning look as he began eating.

"Oh this is for protection on the road. You said it yourself, with darkspawn you can't be too careful. I'd rather take an axe there and back and not need it, than leave it here and find myself wishing I had it" said Edward.

"Do you still practice your fighting skills?" asked Duncan.

"Sometimes, but I do a lot of physical work here. I'm not rusty if that's what you're asking" said Edward.

Duncan looked at the axe and saw that it was indeed well maintained. He noticed that beside the door he had entered there were some pieces of armour and a shield. The shield had a white face with a red bull's head on it.

Edward followed his gaze and said "that's my armour and shield. The shield charge is the West Hills bannorn".

"You fought with blade and shield all the time?" asked Duncan.

"Most of the time, yes. Sometimes with a pike, sometimes with two blades. I also used crossbows often. Nereid and I were talking about Dalish bows before you came down here" said Edward.

"I was trying to explain about Ironbark shaping, but I really don't know how it's done by our craftsmen" said Nereid.

"I just found it hard to believe that a wood could be strong enough to use as a blade without shattering after a few blows" said Edward.

Duncan topped up his bowl and said "believe it, my friend. The Dalish know a great deal about Ironbark and use it for bows and armour as well as swords."

Edward nodded and thoughtfully munched on his breakfast while finishing up his axe sharpening.

While Duncan was finishing the remaining porridge as well as a couple of slices of bread, three apricots and a cured sausage (and amazed Edward in the process) Edward packed some provisions into the cart. He fed the horses and hitched them up ready to go. After a quick run through of the farm to make sure all the fires were out and everything was cleaned and locked up, the travellers hopped up onto the front of the cart and set off.

The morning trip south was uneventful. Nereid curled up on a couple of sacks of wheat and managed to get some sleep. Duncan and Edward talked about the battles that had ocurred at Ostagar already. Edward asked about the nature of darkspawn, and Duncan told him what he knew of the various kinds, their methods of attack and weaponry. Duncan asked about Edwards' military experience and found out about the siege of Alamar. Evidently Edward and his soldiers had mounted a guerilla campaign against the Tevinters and progressively weakened the Imperium while waiting for support from Denerim. During the conversation Duncan formed the opinion that Edward was a solid tactician and a good leader. He mulled over this line of thinking while they stopped for lunch, about three hours from Lothering.

As they were packing up the lunch things, Duncan was hit by a familiar unpleasant sensation. Darkspawn. Many darkspawn. Edward saw his grimace and said "I told you not to eat so many dried fruits, Duncan..."

Duncan grinned and said "ready yourself Edward, it seems I will get to see you fight first hand very soon."

"What's this? Something is coming?" asked Edward.

Nereid gaped and scrambled up onto the cart to grab her bow and arrows.

"There's a large number of darkspawn coming from that direction" said Duncan, pointing to the west, where the forest was quite thick.

Edward looked at the forest and made a quick calculation. He jumped onto the cart and grabbed his shield and a saddle bag which he lowered to the ground carefully. He dropped into the back of the cart beside Nereid and pulled up two sacks, putting one in front of Nereid and one behind, giving her a sort of makeshift fox hole. "Stay up here and give us cover, Nereid. Hold your fire until there is a few of them visible" said Edward, in a steely tone. He dropped down beside his saddle bag and picked it up, slinging his shield onto his back.

"You can sense these things then, Duncan? How close are they?" he asked, moving closer to the Warden.

"Quite close. Be ready" said Duncan.

"I have smoke bombs here which should give us cover against their archers. Aim for the second line of trees and try to hit them about head height. The smoke will drop to the ground and spread better that way" said Edward, motioning to Duncan with the saddle bag.

Edward and Duncan threw smoke bombs to the west and readied themselves for an attack.

The first of the darkspawn cleared the smoke and charged towards Edward. Edward dropped the top of his shield forwards and clipped the darkspawn under the chin, then smashed his axe into the creature's exposed throat, severing its' head. More darkspawn followed and Edward and Duncan found themselves fighting back to back, a whirlwind of steel fury that shredded the mindless darkspawn. Nereid was taking opportunistic shots at any darkspawn, finding chinks in armour, skewering eye sockets and slicing achilles tendons. The smoke bombs appeared to be doing the job of preventing darkspawn archers firing at the trio. Eventually the darkspawn stopped coming and Edward finished off the last one by snapping its neck with the edge of his shield, as it tried to crawl back into the forest.

"Andraste's arse, they fucking stink!" said Edward, covering his nose and mouth.

"That they do my friend. Are you hit at all? Nereid, are you hurt?" said Duncan.

Nereid shook her head and hopped down from the cart. She looked a little pale but was otherwise unharmed. Edward had a lot of thick darkspawn blood on his left side where his shield could not prevent the splatter. Edward coughed and spat, making sure his spit was clear and not red. He didn't want any of that foul shit in his mouth. "I'm not hit, which is a minor miracle, Duncan. How about you?" asked Edward.

"I'm uninjured. This blood isn't mine."

Edward took a minute to survey the scene. "Can you sense any more, Duncan? Are we safe for now?" he asked.

"I can't sense any at present, we seem to have killed off this patrol" said Duncan.

Edward did a rapid count of heads on the ground while he grabbed a pair of water skins from the back of the cart. "Twenty seven that I can see here, Duncan. That's a pretty big patrol" said Edward. He passed a water skin to Duncan and gave the other one to Nereid. Duncan nodded "there are many darkspawn in the horde. They seem to be organised in a similar way to people, except with each unit double the size."

"In other words if you were going just on numbers, you would need two divisions for every one of theirs, correct?" asked Edward.

"Something like that. But bear in mind they use weight of numbers to swarm and overwhelm. Subtelty and tactics are not their strong suit" said Duncan, taking a deep drink from the water skin, before washing the darkspawn mess off his face.

Nereid took a drink and then passed the skin back to Edward, who began cleaning himself up.

Duncan looked at Edward thoughtfully. He cleared his throat and said "Edward, you've now seen the darkspawn and you handled yourself well against them. Would you consider joining the Grey Wardens? I would be pleased to offer you a place with us."

Edward looked at Duncan thoughtfully. He looked at Nereid, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Let me think about it until we get to Lothering. I will have made my decision by then" said Edward.

The travellers put the cart back in order and set off for Lothering again. Nereid had the reins, nestled in between Duncan and Edward, each of whom were cleaning the darkspawn blood and guts from their armour. Occasionally Edward would look up to make sure the horses were behaving themselves. He sometimes whispered a quick command for Nereid to say to the horses to make them speed up or slow down. He was amazed that they were not spooked by the short battle, and attributed it to clever writing.

As he went through the automatic procedure of cleaning his armour, his mind wandered to Duncan's offer. The Grey Wardens. They were heroes. Surely he was not cut from the same cloth as these legends. He thought back to his farm, how it was finally profitable and back to working order. Then he thought of the blight. If the blight isn't stopped then his farm may as well be underwater for all the good it would be.

After a couple of hours they reached the crossroads to Lothering. Duncan and Nereid looked at Edward questioningly. Edward sighed. "I'm sorry Duncan, Nereid" he said. They looked downcast. "I can't take you to Lothering. I'm going to Ostagar instead to become a Grey Warden!" he grinned. Duncan beamed and reached over to shake his hand. Nereid grinned and clapped his shoulder.

"I can sell my crop to the army I believe, and arrange to get my cart transported to Barlin in Lothering, so I should still make something for the season" said Edward.

"Well they say an army marches on its' stomach. You can put that to the test" said Duncan.

"We can make Ostagar by tomorrow afternoon if we aren't attacked again" said Edward.

End of part 1


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's note:** Edward is tall. He's not much shorter than Sten, something of a rarity amongst humans. I found an old ruler that had imperial measurements, and it looks like 5 to 6 inches in the old style or 13-15cm is about how much taller I want him over Alistair._

_Nereid will feature more as the story progresses but the main focus is still Edward._

_When I was doing the battle parts, I subconsciously made Eddie a southpaw (as I am)._

Part 2

Duncan, Nereid and Edward rode through Ostagar into the main army's camp for Edward to drop his supplies with the camp supply officer. As they were getting their equipment from the back of the cart, Duncan said to Edward "when you have finished with the supply officer, come and find me over at the Grey Warden camp. Any of the guards should be able to direct you there."

Edward nodded, saying "I shouldn't be too long, perhaps an hour" gesturing at his load of goods.

Nereid gave him a grin and said "see you later", then walked alongside Duncan as he picked his way back out to the King's camp. As the pair approached the Grey Warden camp, they were approached by a group led by a man in impressive burnished gold armour. Nereid discovered that the leader was none other than the King of Ferelden, Cailan. Nereid was a bit taken aback by his politeness, and stammered out her name when asked, and informed his highness that yes, she was Dalish.

Duncan addressed the king "Your majesty, I have a second recruit who is over with the supply officer. He's a former soldier of your father's, a captain from Alamar."

"One of the siege survivors?"

"Yes, your majesty. His name is Edward Lennox."

"I can't recall the name, but that siege finished just before I took the throne. But they are a hearty group, he should do well as a warden."

Duncan bowed and the King took his leave to make some more preparations for the upcoming battle. Looking towards Nereid, he said "while we wait for Edward, you can wander around the camp as you like. There are two other recruits and some Grey Wardens about."

Nereid nodded and said "I'll be over by the kennels, Duncan." So saying the elf wandered off to see the Mabari in their kennels. She soon fell into conversation with the kennel master about the mabari, darkspawn and treating sick animals.

Edward, meanwhile, had negotiated a very favourable rate for his supplies. Duncan was right, the army was in need of material supplies as well as manpower. He was even able to get a rider to take his cart back to Lothering, however he was not due to leave until the next morning. Edward went to the front rail of his cart, a solid wooden beam that ran under the seats. At the right hand side, he felt underneath and released a cleverly disguised button, which ejected a small box. He filled the box with a coin pouch, then packed the sides with straw to stop it from rattling. Then he placed the box back in its' hiding spot and clicked the button shut. Making sure the cache was well hidden from prying eyes, he collected his personal supplies from the cart and gave each of his horses a couple of apples as well as a good solid pat down their necks. He double checked their stabling was up to scratch, then picked up his packs and headed towards the gate into the kings' camp.

The gate guard told him the general layout of the camp. Straight ahead was the infirmary, kept well out of the way of the main camp (bad for morale, you see). A small chapel there appeared to have a few devotees, and hanging alongside was a crow cage with some poor bastard inside awaiting his fate. Further in there was a quartermaster, the mages camp and the kennels. Rounding out the camp were the tents for the Wardens, flanked by Loghain's and the King's tents. A group of Ash warriors were preparing for a scouting run in the wilds close to the camp exit. *

_***Author's note:** Edward is coming in from the Army camp, not across the bridge as per usual. That might make the directions seem a little different._

Edward wandered into the main camp, skirting past the infirmary and down a ramp to see the quartermaster. The quartermaster was a gruff fellow, but happily fell into conversation with Edward when he began asking about the various bits and pieces he had. Edward made a few purchases and then sketched a salute to the quartermaster, turning on his heel and heading towards the Grey Warden campsite. He spotted Nereid talking to the kennel master, and went over to the pair. Nereid saw him approach, and said "Edward, they use these Mabari here like soldiers! This one here is injured, but the kennel master here has told me how to help him."

Edward raised his eyebrows to hear so much coming from the normally quiet elf. "What do you need?" he asked the kennel master.

"There's a particular flower that grows in the wilds. Your friend here has promised to have a look for them if you go there."

"That's fine, however I don't know exactly what we're to do yet" said Edward. "I'm going to head back to Duncan, you coming?" he asked Nereid.

Nereid nodded, and with a brief wave to the kennel master, she fell into step with Edward. Duncan was writing up some reports when they arrived, and he looked up from the paperwork to them. "Ahh, Edward, how did your arrangements go with the supplies?"

"They went very well Duncan. I arranged for the cart to be taken back to Lothering tomorrow morning."

"Good. With that settled, here is what I need you to do. Find a Grey Warden by the name of Alistair, and if you see the two recruits about, send them back here. The recruits names are Daveth and Jory."

"What does Alistair look like?" asked Nereid.

"He is about my height, blonde short hair, he will have a shield with a sun on his back" said Duncan.

"We'll find him" said Edward, moving back in the direction they had come from. Nereid walked alongside, but soon stopped as she saw a group of mages performing some bizarre ritual off to the right. A gaggle of templars were glaring at the mages and presumably stopping anyone too curious from interrupting. A lone mage was resting against a tree outside the camp. Nereid approached her and said "hello."

The mage looked at the pair, returning the greeting. She introduced herself as Wynne, a senior mage. After exchanging pleasantries she quizzed the pair about the darkspawn and the link to the fade. Not entirely sure what she was driving at, Edward simply said that he'd just gut any darkspawn he saw, and that was good enough for him. Nereid nodded agreement, and Wynne appeared satisfied by this answer. They took their leave from Wynne and made their way up a couple of ramps to the lookout.

They saw a pair of men in a heated argument. One was obviously a mage, his robes indicating his profession. He was rather chubby and was growing redder as the pair approached. The other man matched Duncan's description of Alistair, so they waited while the argument wound down to its' conclusion. The mage, fed up with the Warden, spun around and walked towards the recruits. "Out of the way, fools" he snarled. Angry as he was, the mage recognised that Edward was probably not going to move, so he sidestepped around him, muttering curses under his breath.

Edward looked at the blonde man, saying "Alistair?"

"Yes, that's me. Who are you?" asked Alistair.

"I am Edward, and this is Nereid. Duncan sent us to find you" said Edward.

"Duncan mentioned a Dalish recruit, but he didn't say anything about another one" said Alistair, looking up at the taller man. "_Sweet Andraste, this man is a giant! He's got to be at least five inches taller than me_" he thought.

"Edward was only recruited yesterday, so Duncan wouldn't have had time to get a message to you" said Nereid.

"That makes sense. You made good time, we weren't expecting you until tomorrow afternoon" said Alistair. "Have you met the other two recruits?" he asked.

Both Edward and Nereid shook their heads.

"Let's go find them, then head back to Duncan" said Alistair.

Daveth was close by, trying and failing to chat up a pretty blonde soldier near the quartermaster's camp. As the soldier stalked off, Daveth turned around to see the trio. "Well, Alistair. Who are these two?" he asked.

"Daveth, meet Nereid and Edward" said Alistair, indicating each in turn.

"Nice to meet you" he said, eyeing Nereid up and down with a smirk. "So you're here to join the famous Grey Wardens as well? Things are looking up" he grinned.

"Yes, they have started to choose based on talent, not the closest shem on hand" sniped Nereid.

"Well you have to give him points for bravery" muttered Edward. "Where do we find the other recruit - what was his name again? Jamie? Jordan?" he asked.

"Jory is his name, and he's up with the priestess near the infirmary" said Daveth. "I'll go wait over with Duncan. See you later" he said, taking a last look at Nereid before sauntering off towards the Grey Warden camp. The recruits, led by Alistair, walked up to the chapel where a small group of soldiers and knights were taking blessings from a Chantry Priestess. Alistair moved ahead and tapped one of the knights on the shoulder. He turned and gave a nod to Alistair.

"Ser Jory, these are the other new recruits, Nereid and Edward" he said, indicating the pair as he had for Daveth.

Jory looked at the pair, saying "Edward, you have the bearing of a man who knows how to fight. If I may ask, were you a soldier before you came here?"

"Sixteen years under the belt. I have been recalled, so to speak."

"And you are from the Dalish clans, my lady?" he asked Nereid.

Nereid smirked at Jory and nodded in agreement.

"You both obviously impressed Duncan, and that's enough for me" said Jory, bowing slightly towards Nereid.

The group walked back to Duncan's campfire where Daveth was waiting with Duncan. Seeing the recruits assembled, Duncan addressed them. "Now that you are all here, I can tell you about the task I have for you to do. In order to become Wardens, you will need to undergo a ritual called the Joining. Part of that ritual requires the blood of darkspawn. Alistair has some small vials, and I want you to each collect one full vial of darkspawn blood. And that means one darkspawn each, not draining the first one you see" he added. Duncan looked at his charges and continued "there is a second task I want you to perform while we are here. Of old there was a Grey Warden fortress out in the wilds. Inside the fortress there was a magically sealed chest, and within the chest some scrolls. These scrolls are treaties signed with the Grey Wardens, promising aid in the event of a blight. They should be useful in the days to come. You are to find these scrolls and return them to me, along with your vials of blood."

Duncan looked at the recruits again, seeing the differing reactions on each face. "Any questions?" he asked.

There was no answer, so he nodded towards Alistair "then you should be off as soon as you can, in order to make the most of the day" he said.

Daveth and Jory wandered off to get their packs, while Alistair hoisted his shield off and began adjusting his equipment for travelling. Edward flicked his packs over his shoulder and rummaged around in the topmost one, bringing out some items. He stood up and handed Nereid a quiver with arrows in it, and a deep green cloak. She looked up at him in surprise, saying "oh ma serannas, Edward, thank you so much!"

The elf unslung her bow and carefully pinned the cloak in place, before re-slinging her bow and hanging the quiver over her other shoulder. Edward gave a brief grin, and put on a mottled grey cloak he had bought for himself. He pulled his packs back together and hoisted them up, then hung his shield on the pack. Jory and Daveth moved up and the group of five left Duncan's fire and walked to the South gate.

Kocari Wilds.

Edward led the group deeper into the Kocari Wilds. The twisting path had already taken them into a couple of brief skirmishes with the wildlife. Daveth was nearly bitten by a snake close to where the group had found an injured soldier. They had patched up the soldier and he had informed them that darkspawn had jumped his patrol, killing all but him. Perhaps they were saving him for later or they didn't notice him, he couldn't say which. This confirmed to Edward that they were on the right track. They surprised a small group of darkspawn not long after that, and when the dust had settled there were six darkspawn corpses and not even a scratch on the wardens. Alistair handed out the vials for the darkspawn blood. Daveth knelt down to drain the closest darkspawn of some blood. He grunted in surprise and beckoned Alistair over. "Look at this! I never seen anything like this before. The wound is dry - how can that be, it's not been dead two minutes?"

Alistair knelt down and examined the corpse. Sure enough, the neck wound which had killed it was now coated with a greasy layer of semi-dried blood. Nereid and Edward had rolled over one of Nereid's fallen darkspawn, shot through the heart with so much force that the arrow head had left a bulge in the rear of the darkspawn's armour. Edward drew a dagger and slit the darkspawn's jugular artery while Nereid pressed the vial in towards the wound. The thick vile liquid flowed sluggishly into the vial. It was full eventually, but Edward had to sit on the darkspawns' chest to pump the blood out.

"So their blood clots extra fast" said Edward. "What a pain in the arse. So even though we have killed more than enough, we can't bleed them unless we're practically using our vials in combat."

"It would appear that way. This one I beheaded here, the neck stump has sealed already" added Jory.

"Well there's going to be more to kill. If we run out of luck we can string them up from a tree and bleed them like a butcher does. It's pretty disgusting but it might be the only way" said Edward.

Calling a short break an hour later, Edward sat down on a decaying log near a brackish puddle. He had had some time to observe his travelling companions. He certainly couldn't fault Duncan in his selection criteria. Each member was solid in combat, even the timid Jory was powerful and accurate in battle. Daveth was still eyeing off the attractive blonde elf Nereid, but he concentrated during combat and was a demon with his dual blades. Nereid's archery was accurate and efficient. The wolves had given her no trouble whatsoever. Edward thought that living closer to the land than any of the humans, she would have had to deal with wolves from time to time. Finally there was Alistair. He was a competent warrior, and having a second shield user present meant that if Alistair was on his right, Edward didn't have to worry too much about that flank. As a left hander, Edward and Alistair's shields would form a formidable barrier side by side. All in all things were looking good.

Nereid plopped herself down beside Edward, munching on an apple. Edward grabbed a water skin and washed off the dried blood on his hands, then took a drink. He rummaged in his pack and found a chunk of cheese and a few apples. Slicing off a wedge, he passed it to Nereid. Nereid thanked him, taking a bite of the cheese. Alistair knelt down opposite the pair, eyeing the cheesey package. Slicing off a decent piece for himself, he passed the cheese to Alistair and said "here, Alistair. Make sure you leave some for the other two."

"Cheese and apples. Yum. All we're missing now is some crusty bread and mulled wine, and this could be rather pleasant" he grinned.

"Ignoring the fact that we're all covered in darkspawn guts, I'd agree" said Edward.

"I'd settle for a hot bath" said Nereid. "But the wine is a good idea" she added with a grin.

"I would happily share a bath with you. Maybe I could scrub your back?" said Daveth.

Nereid tossed her apple core at Daveth, giggling as it hit him on the forehead with a wet splat.

After the group had eaten their food, they gathered their packs and walked further into the wilds. The path was getting harder to follow the further in they travelled. As they approached a small hill, Nereid noticed something out of the corner of her eye. The kennel master at the camp had told her of a kind of flower that grew out here. She was sure this was it. Peeling from the group, she reached out and plucked three or four of the blooms, then wrapped them in a rag and stashed them in her pack.

Edward tensed as he saw Alistair unsheathe his sword and equip his shield. He motioned up ahead, just on the far side of an old log bridge. Edward could make out some rough barriers that had been thrown up by the darkspawn. They had filled three blood vials, they only needed one more, then collect the treaties and they could get out of this place. He drew his axe and readied his shield, indicating for Daveth to scout ahead with Nereid. Jory unslung his broadsword and waited between Edward and Alistair. Daveth snuck forwards to the left, sidestepping the bridge as he saw that Nereid had moved to the right between the bridge and a large fallen column. Daveth saw some figures up ahead, and signalled Nereid to wait there. She nodded and dropped down behind the column, her cloak making her almost invisible. Daveth quickly made his way back to the trio of warriors and told them of the forces ahead.

"There was nothing near the bridge but archers?" asked Edward.

"That's right. One of those magic guys further back and a couple of the bigger warrior ones with him, plus two or three archers looking over the bridge" said Daveth.

"With archers there they will have traps set on the bridge" said Edward. He thought for a minute and then said "alright we skip the bridge and go along side it. Jory and Alistair go on the right and keep your heads down. The bridge should give you good protection. Daveth you're with me. Get your bow ready" he added.

"Wait, what do we do?" asked Alistair.

"When you see us killing the archers, the other darkspawn will come running. Stop them" said Edward, simply.

Alistair nodded and went to the edge of the bridge with Jory. Edward and Daveth quietly made their way to Nereid. Quickly explaining his idea to her, she nocked an arrow and shuffled over to make room for Daveth. Daveth followed suit, and Edward quietly rolled over the pillar and waded into the stream. He approached on a line with the barriers, crouching as low as his large frame would allow.

The darkspawn archers were not aware of him until he was almost on top of them. Burying his axe in the head of the closest darkspawn, the other two brought their bows to bear to shoot. Edward swivelled the dead darkspawn, still stuck to his axe, around between himself and the archers. Letting the axe go, he drew his sword as the archers fired, hitting their fallen comrade who dropped to the ground like a stone.

Daveth and Nereid took a shot at the archers, but the cover they were behind made the shots very difficult, and succeeded only in grazing a darkspawn's cheek. As the archers reached for new arrows, Edward lunged forwards with his shield edge on, feeling the solid contact as the closest archer caught the full weight in his shoulder. The impact span the darkspawn around and Edward was able to lash out with his sword and split the darkspawn open across the middle, spraying gore onto the ground.

The remaining archer backed off and ran towards the creek, trying to nock an arrow while stumbling on the rocky ground. Daveth and Nereid spotted the easy target in the open and shot true. The darkspawn collapsed with two arrows in its' chest.

Alistair and Jory saw the fight and remained in cover until the other darkspawn began running down the hill to help their soon-to-be dead buddies. Alistair recognised the rearmost of the approaching darkspawn from its elaborate headgear. An emissary. He charged the emissary from the side, hoping to take it out of the equation before it was able to cast any spells. Jory roared and charged at the closest darkspawn, sword drawn and held high. The darkspawn stopped and turned, but it did not have time to raise its shield, as Jory hacked off its' arm and then kicked out at the darkspawn's knee, smashing it like a twig.

Alistair shield bashed the emissary a second time, dazing the monster. He took careful aim and swung at the creature's neck. The emissary was able to partially block Alistair's blow, but there was a lot of force which ended up shattering the emissary's staff. Alistair followed up with a swing at the emissary's legs, knocking it to the ground. With a vicious swipe from the pointed end of his shield, Alistair carved a large canyon in the emissary's head, ending its' spellcasting days.

Edward looked up to see the last darkspawn bearing down on him. It hurdled the barrier, and Edward sidestepped as it landed. He used the flat of his sword to jar the darkspawn's weapon hand, causing it to howl and drop its ugly serrated blade. Swinging wildly with its shield, the darkspawn stretched too far, and Edward brought his full weight in behind a punch with the pommel of his sword. The blow connected and knocked the creature out cold. Judging from the crunches the had heard, Edward guessed that the darkspawn's lower jaw was now something like a leather bag full of gravel.

"Who's got the last vial?" he shouted.

Alistair and Jory came over, Jory bringing the vial out from a pouch. He handed it to Edward, who had flipped the knocked out darkspawn over onto it's chest. Nereid and Daveth came over as Edward slit the unconscious darkspawns' throat, directing the spray into the small vial. He stoppered the full vial and calmly handed it to a slightly greenish looking Alistair. Edward raised one eyebrow, saying "what's the matter Alistair?"

"It just seems a little cold blooded, that's all" he replied.

Edward shrugged "says the man who used his shield to split open a darkspawn's head?" he replied, then used his sword to spear the darkspawn through the heart, making sure it was dead. He retrieved his axe and then led the others to the creek to try to wash off the darkspawn filth from their weapons and armour.

"They stink so much" said Daveth. "It's like they're rotting or something. Smells like rotting meat."

"Yes and it gets in your armour. Yuck, this stuff will be hell to clean off" mumbled Jory.

Edward grunted in agreement, using a wet rag to clean off the worst of the offending stains. Nereid splashed in the water, cleaning the blood from her skin and leather armour. Alistair also sponged off his armour, keeping an eye out for darkspawn.

The treaties were supposed to be in a chest, which was in turn within a ruined tower. The group found a chest, but it had been smashed open. It looked like a piece of the tower wall had fallen on it. While pondering what to do, a scantily dressed woman appeared from behind the group. She claimed to know where the treaties were, and led them further in to the wilds. The woman's name was Morrigan, and her mother had the treaties. She appeared to Edward to be a crazy old bag, but she seemed to know something about the blight. When pressed she merely gave another cryptic answer. After receiving the treaties, Morrigan led the group back into the wilds. In a couple of hours or so, they were within sight of the rear gate to Ostagar.

"There's the gates. We've made good time with your help, Morrigan" said Edward.

Morrigan merely blinked, saying "You can find your own way from here. Farewell to you, Grey Wardens." With that she vanished back into the wilds.

Alistair led the recruits back to the camp. Once there, Nereid went to the kennel master to deliver her antidote flowers. Edward and Daveth went to the quartermaster to sell off some darkspawn weapons they collected as scrap metal. Alistair and Jory waited over at Duncan's camp for the others to finish their errands. When all had returned, Duncan began "now that you are all here, were you successful in the wilds?"

"We were, Duncan. Alistair has the vials and I have the treaties" began Edward. He handed the treaties back to Duncan.

"With the blood you have acquired, we can move on to the last part of the Joining. I have had the circle mages over there preparing while you were away."

"Can you tell us a bit more about this ritual, Duncan?" asked Nereid.

"I can. We Wardens pay a heavy price to become what we are. Some may pay that price before others. Your cure," here he addressed Nereid directly "is a part of the joining" he concluded.

"So you're saying this could kill us?" asked Edward.

"So could any darkspawn you're likely to meet" countered Duncan.

"We've come this far. Might as well see it through" said Daveth. Edward nodded in agreement.

"I agree" said Jory "let's have it done."

End of part 2


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note:**__ This Part will concentrate a little more on Edward and Nereid talking, and gloss over the Tower of Ishal sequence, which Dragon Age players should be well and truly familiar with. That might make it a little shorter than the previous two chapters._

Part 3

Nereid opened her eyes and looked around blearily. She was back in her tent, pitched over in the Grey Warden section of the King's camp. Someone had thrown a blanket across her and taken her boots off, which she could see near the tent flap. Sitting up, she felt a gnawing hunger as she stretched. She rolled out of the bed and pulled on her boots. Sticking her head outside of the tent, she noticed that the camp was very quiet. It seemed to be about midday, judging from the shadows on the ground. She crawled out of the tent and caught a whiff of a delightful savoury smell.

Following the source of the cooking smell, she saw Edward kneeling down near a fire. He had set up a pot and a skillet, and was occasionally swirling the skillet around to stop his bacon from sticking. He'd found some bread and sliced up a couple of pieces, which were sitting close by. Nereid, not wanting to startle the big man, cleared her throat with an "ahem!".

Edward half turned and smiled when he saw the elf. "Nereid! You're a sight for sore eyes" he said.

Nereid darted forwards and wrapped her arms around the big human. "Oh Edward, I'm so happy you're alive!"

Edward rubbed her back with his free arm, soothing the elf. "We're both alive, Nereid. Poor Jory and Daveth didn't make it." He hugged the elf, just a couple of friends who had both had a close brush with death.

Neried sniffed and then sighed. She hadn't known the two men for more than a day, but that still didn't mean she wasn't upset that they were both dead.

Edward gave her a gentle squeeze. "Let's get you something to eat, then we can honour our friends' passing."

Nereid let go of Edward and sat down by the fire. Edward pulled off the bacon and made a big sandwich, then sliced it in half and passed half to Nereid. Munching contentedly on the savoury food, she watched as Edward threw a few more rashers back into the pan. Edward sat up and joined the elf, enjoying his sandwich. After making a second sandwich and sharing it as before, Edward found a couple of apples and passed one to Nereid. While she crunched on the apple, he diced up some more bacon and threw it into the pot which he had near the edge of the fire.

"Edward, have you seen Alistair or Duncan?"

"I saw Duncan when I woke up"

"How long ago was that?"

"About an hour and a half ago. I woke up about an hour before you did."

"Do you know what they did with Daveth and Jory's bodies?"

"I didn't ask. I still can't believe Duncan killed Jory. He should have knocked him out or something."

"Yes what a waste" agreed Nereid.

"On the other hand I didn't think that Jory would pull his sword like he did" said Edward, sighing.

"I'll miss them, I think."

"Yeah, me too."

Nereid chucked her apple core into the fire, watching it blacken and shrivel.

"Nereid, do you feel any better today, since the Joining?" asked Edward.

Nereid pondered this, before nodding her head. "I do, yes. At first I thought it was the same, but that must have just been hunger pangs. The Joining must have cured me like Duncan said it would."

"That's good. This Joining seems to make me feel hungry though. I'll have to talk to Duncan or Alistair and see if that's normal."

"There might be other things they haven't told us, do you think?"

"For sure. We seem to have joined a very secretive bunch" said Edward, grinning at Nereid.

"What do you think we will be doing now?" asked Nereid.

"I guess the next battle will be fought tonight. Look up there - those clouds coming in means it'll probably rain as well. Great. Fighting in the rain is hard work" muttered Edward.

"Do you think we'll be in the battle?" asked Nereid.

"I'm not sure. I don't expect they'd put us up front as new Wardens, but I'm sure we'll see some action wherever we are. I heard from Duncan when we were coming here that Loghain has planned this battle along with the King, so we'll all have something to keep us busy."

"Who's Loghain?"

"General Loghain MacTir, Hero of the River Dane. A living legend and very sound tactician by all accounts."

"Did you fight with him when you were in the army?"

"No, we were a separate smaller unit based out of Denerim. We all knew about Loghain though, we grew up on stories of his adventures with King Maric when I was in the army."

Nereid thought about this new information and stretched, flicking her long blonde hair back while arching her back. "I'd love a bath" she murmurred.

Edward looked at his elven friend and smiled. "I've got some water boiling over there" he said, pointing at a fire close by. "You can have a hot wash at least. Sorry but its' the best we can manage here."

"Well you should talk to this Loghain or the King and get them to move the battle back to your place, where the amenities are better" laughed Nereid.

"I'll help you move some water to your tent, you'll have some privacy there" said Edward, getting up. He offered his hand to Nereid, who allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She found a bucket and half filled it with cold water, while Edward filled another bucket with hot water and brought it over to her tent. He excused himself when Nereid went inside and went back to his fire.

Alistair and Duncan had been collecting equipment for the other Grey Wardens, and seeing to the pyres for Daveth and Jory. Duncan had noted that Jory's wife would receive a small pension from the Wardens, as if Jory had fallen in the line of duty, which technically he had. "Alistair, we need to discuss these new recruits. In particular Edward."

Alistair grunted while walking beside Duncan, carrying some breastplates which had been fixed.

"There are two reasons I recruited him. First his skill in battle, which you saw in the wilds. What was your impression?"

Alistair stopped and let one of the breastplates drop to the ground with a clang. Duncan picked it up, seeing as his friend was overburdened. "He fights very well. He plans well. There's not much more to say, he's what you would expect from someone his rank in the army."

"What of his use of the other recruits?" asked Duncan, walking back towards the Warden camp with Alistair beside him.

"Oh yes, of course. He would have the elf shoot while he and I engaged in the middle, with Daveth and Jory cleaning up the edges. Textbook stuff."

"And they followed him. You followed him?" said Duncan, driving his point home.

Alistair thought and said "well... I suppose I did. Its' like he assumed command. Hmm. I didn't think about it at the time, but I was following his orders too."

"What of the darkspawn blood?"

"He had a backup plan in case we couldn't collect it all. Something to do with draining the corpses like a butcher."

"You can see the second reason I chose him is his thinking on the field. His career was made in a guerilla campaign, so he would have had to be flexible."

"He's a good recruit, you have chosen well. I'm glad he's survived."

"I can see that he'll make a formidable Warden. Once we are done here at Ostagar I want him training with the Orlesian Wardens with an aim to be a commander."

"What? Ahead of me?" cried Alistair.

"No, in addition to you. After the battle we will work out the details. We will need to discuss the archdemon with all of the Wardens. Some of you will be sent up for advanced training and some will move to recruiting" concluded Duncan.

After dropping the repaired armour back with the regular Wardens, Alistair and Duncan went to find their newest charges. They saw Edward was sharpening a sword while Nereid was using some leather strapping to weave a net. Her hair was damp, and it appeared that the recruits had been up and busy for a while.

"Good afternoon, Edward; Nereid" said Duncan.

"How long have you been up?" asked Alistair.

"About three hours. We've just been cleaning our armour and weapons" said Edward.

"The King and Loghain will be having a meeting in about an hour, and I want you two to accompany me there. This is a request from the King" said Duncan.

"I've got some questions, if you've got time, Duncan" said Edward.

"Certainly. I wanted to talk to both of you now that you are Wardens."

"I keep getting hungry. Is this normal?" asked Edward.

"It is. You will find that it can be managed, but Wardens in general eat a great deal more once they have taken the Joining. We suspect it is something to do with fighting the taint within us. You will notice that your skin will be warmer too, as your body burns off the food."

"Are there any other things that change?" asked Nereid.

Duncan looked at Alistair and sighed. _May as well tell them the bad news now. Edward would probably be able to handle it, but the elf is so young... and female!_

"There are two other major changes" started Duncan.

"Bad news, I take it?" said Edward, who had noticed the looks between Alistair and Duncan.

"You have changed your body to resist the taint. But ultimately, the taint will win out. Within two or three decades, you will succumb to the taint. At that time, you will have intense nightmares which tell you your time is close at hand. Traditionally, Wardens have left for Orzammar to die in battle with the darkspawn there."

"Why Orzammar?" asked Edward.

"The darkspawn breed in the tunnels below the dwarven kingdoms. There are always darkspawn to fight there" said Duncan, simply.

"So we only have twenty or thirty years of life left?" cried Nereid. "This is no cure, it's only a respite!"

"I can see why you keep that quiet, Duncan" said Edward, frowning.

"What's the other change?" spat Nereid.

"It is almost impossible for Grey Wardens to sire children" said Duncan.

"Oh this just gets better. I'm barren now?" asked Nereid.

"And I'm shooting blanks?" asked Edward.

"No, not really" said Alistair. "We haven't invented guns yet, so you won't be shooting blanks" he added.

Nereid stormed off to her tent. Edward watched her, then turned to Duncan. "That's a lot to take in in one go, Duncan. We have a battle to focus on, but now she'll be distracted."

"You asked" replied Duncan.

Edward sighed. "Duncan, knowing what is coming up, don't you think that just deflecting the question would have been a better idea? Its' too late now, but really that was one of the dumbest things I have seen for quite a while."

Alistair looked on in shock as his mentor cringed, knowing Edward was telling the truth.

"Look, you asked the question, you can't complain if you didn't like the answer" said Alistair, trying to defend Duncan.

Edward looked at Alistair, his eyes like flint. "Alistair, you told me before that you hadn't fought in the main battles. You had months to get used to what Duncan just told us. You're as green a recruit as Nereid is. You don't want distractions when you are in a fight. Look at what happened to Jory - when he was worrying about his wife he was uncoordinated. Once we calmed him down and got him focused, he was fine. Point is, you've basically taken away everything Nereid has to live for. I don't want a suicidal elf fighting alongside me."

Duncan spoke up "I apologise... you are correct, and I should have waited until after the battle."

"Alright. I'll talk to Nereid. We'll be at your meeting" said Edward, going over to Nereid's tent. He glared at the Wardens before entering.

"That.. didn't go too well, Duncan" said Alistair.

Duncan nodded and stomped off to his own tent, while Alistair idly poked a few sticks into the fire.

Edward looked at Nereid, who had curled up into a ball on her bedroll, facing away from the tent flap. "Nereid?" he asked, entering the tent. Nereid rolled over, her eyes reddened and wet. She looked up at Edward and said "come to cheer me up?"

Edward sat down and looked at her. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it."

Nereid nodded.

Edward continued, "I was looking forward to having children some day."

Nereid sniffed, saying "so was I. As part of the clan, children are encouraged and welcomed."

"Was Tamlen the one you wanted as the father?" asked Edward.

"No, Tamlen was like a brother to me, but I was hoping Fenarel would be the father" said Nereid. "It all seems so long ago now."

Nereid looked over at her human friend and asked "what was your wife like?"

Edward stared at her before saying "Lisa was one of a kind. A wonderful woman, strong and healthy. She loved life and when she fell pregnant, well I thought this was my own slice of heaven. She had long hair like yours, but hers was a chestnut colour. Her eyes were bright blue, like yours."

"What was the child?"

"A son. We were going to call him Andrew" said Edward.

"Do you still miss her?"

"Yeah. At first it was hard, but after a few weeks I began working again, mainly to keep my mind occupied. Eventually the bad dreams stopped and things started to get back in order. I would still sometimes think I'd see her. Like a curtain blowing in the wind, or catching a smell from her clothes. But time has a great way of healing."

"Thanks, Edward" said Nereid.

"What for?" he asked.

"I do feel better. You've been able to get over something like that" said Nereid. She rolled up onto her knees and straightened her hair, pulling the blonde locks back into a ponytail.

"Let's see what this King has in store for us, and worry about the rest tomorrow" said Edward with a grin.

"Take things one step at a time, you mean" said Nereid.

"Exactly."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Lothering. OK, the Wardens have left the Wilds with the delightful Morrigan in tow. The Mabari which Nereid obtained the flowers for caught up with them, and Nereid christened him "Huolir" which means "dog-song" (I would say Howler, but you know those wacky elves). In this part we begin to get an idea of some more of Edward's past._

**Part 4.**

The Wardens and Morrigan, along with their newly adopted mabari, trudged along the causeway leading to Lothering. Nereid patted the dog every so often, and the mabari responded with a happy doggy grin. Edward was walking in front, munching on an apple, while Morrigan walked along side, occasionally stealing a glance at the tall man.

"Just say it, Morrigan. What's on your mind?" said Edward.

"I am merely wondering why we are all being led by a new recruit" she said.

"Ha! I'm hardly a new recruit. I might be a new Warden, but I've been in the army for something like sixteen years. Leading is something I _can_ do."

"How old are you?" asked Morrigan.

"Hmm. I would be thirty six one week before midwinter" said Edward, after thinking about the dates.

Morrigan merely nodded and remained silent.

"So you were a child in the army?" asked Alistair.

"Yep. Started as a reservist until I was recruited into the east army, and from there just worked my way up to captain."

"Did you travel much?" asked Nereid.

"A little bit. We were in Nevarra once for about six months, and I had postings at Cumberland and Ostwick in the Free Marches. But for a long time I was based at Alamar, which is on an island to the north of Denerim".

As they chatted about other places, the town of Lothering drew closer. Edward had hoped that Barlin had taken good care of his horses, as a cart would make travel so much easier. In the distance, Edward spotted a cluster of carts on the road, and a few figures slouching close to them. "Nereid, you might want to have your bow out, just in case. Carts across a road is usually a bad sign" said Edward.

"Highwaymen" grumbled Alistair. "How do you want to do this?" he asked Edward.

"Follow my lead. Morrigan and Nereid pick off any archers. Alistair, you and I will have to clear the middle".

The group walked towards the highwaymen, Edward readying a cruel looking dagger in his hand, hidden from sight with the blade running against his forearm. Alistair had unslung his shield, and Morrigan was using her staff like a walking stick rather than having it slung across her back.

"Greetings, travellers!" said the rather-too-chirpy spokesman for the highwaymen. "Ten silvers, and you can walk right on past. It's a bargain, even though I say so myself!"

"Ten? I have fifty, right here" said Edward, dangling a fat purse in front of his face. "Oops, I dropped it" he deadpanned.

The bandit leader darted forward, bending down to retrieve the leather purse. Quickly Edward flicked his dagger out and threw it at one of the archers in the back line of highwaymen. The dagger buried itself in his throat and pinned him to a cart, his twitching body spraying gouts of blood across his comrades. Edward grabbed the bandit leader with both bear-like hands on the sides of the head. Bringing his knee forwards, he stove in the bandit's face and with a flick of both wrists he snapped the bandits' neck like a twig. Nereid loosed an arrow at another archer, bringing him low with a shot through the chest. She readied another arrow while Alistair used his shield to knock a highwayman down, drawing his sword on the backswing. Morrigan was surprised at the sudden burst of speed from the Wardens. She identified another archer in the background, who was raising his arm to notch an arrow. She let a spell fly, freezing the archer on the spot.

Huolir leapt at another highwayman, bringing him down and proceeding to maul his throat.

Nereid fired at the highwayman Alistair had brought down, and easy shot from point blank range into his head. Edward, meanwhile, had leapt at the remaining highwayman, locking his mace in his hands where he couldn't bring it to bear. Edward roared and kicked the highwayman in the balls, yanking him forwards and still holding his wrists pinned together. "Alistair! Get this one!" he yelled. Alistair brought his sword down with a solid thunk into the man's chest, ending him.

Edward let go of the dying man and retrieved his purse. "Right, search and strip the bodies. I'll check these carts" he said. While the other three checked for coins and other valuables, Edward looked at the carts close at hand. The third one along looked kind of familiar.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled. This was his cart, the one he had left at Ostagar. It was to have been delivered here, but he wasn't able to check it with the battle and its' result. Quickly he made his way to the front rail and ejected his hidden compartment. The box was intact. Morrigan, made curious because of the yelling, watched closely as Edward pulled out a heavily laden leather purse from the box.

"How did you know that was hidden there?" asked Morrigan.

Edward smiled at her and said, "this is my cart, I hid this before the battle."

"But you could not have known you would find it here, surely" said Morrigan.

"I didn't know the battle would be lost, either" replied Edward. "But I had arranged to have this cart delivered with a pair of horses to Lothering".

Morrigan chuckled "ahh, it is good to see someone so prepared, Warden."

"For every minute spent in organising, an hour is earned" said Edward, with a smile.

Alistair, Nereid and Huolir joined them and the travellers made their way down into Lothering.

"Wow, there's a lot more people here than the last time I was here" said Edward. Crowds of refugees were camped to the north of the Chantry, and a steady stream of bedraggled people meandered aimlessly through the town.

"Alistair, we need to find out what happened after the battle. I suppose the Chantry is as good a place as any to start. The templar commander is probably in there."

Alistair fiddled with the locket and note he had found by the highwaymen. "There might be some more local information about this legend mentioned in the note here" said Alistair.

Nereid walked with Huolir towards the bridge in the centre of the town. She was careful to keep within sight of her friends, not wanting to get separated in a strange shemlen place. She pulled her cloak to her and re-adjusted the hood, grateful for its' concealment of her pointed ears. On the bridge there was a small boy, perhaps seven or eight years old. He looked up at the elf and asked her "have you seen my mother?"

"I don't know, what does your mother look like?" asked Nereid.

"She's really tall, with red hair. She said she was coming after me back into the town, but I haven't found her yet."

_Poor child_, thought Nereid. "Here, take this coin and get yourself something to eat. When you come back, talk to the templars, yes? The nice men in the dresses should be able to help you." Nereid pressed a silver coin into the child's hands.

"A silver? Wow, thanks ever so much!" said the lad. With that he skipped off towards a hut on the far side of the bridge.

Morrigan had watched this exchange with some interest. Approaching the elf, she asked "would it not have been better simply to tell the child his mother was dead?"

"Probably" said Nereid, adding "but we don't know that for certain. Amongst our people, there was never a funeral without a body." _Except for Tamlen_, she thought. But Morrigan wouldn't know differently.

Morrigan left the matter at that, not wanting to step on Nereid's Dalish heritage.

The group went into the Chantry building, taking a minute for their eyes to adjust to the dimmer lighting. In the centre of the building there was an imposing figure in a templar uniform. Approaching him, Edward and Alistair waited for him to acknowledge them.

The Templar introduced himself as the local Commander, Ser Bryant. Addressing Edward, he said "you seem familiar. Have you travelled to Lothering before?"

"Last year I was here for two visits. The Revered Mother said the rites at my wife and child's funeral."

Alistair was stunned by that line, looking at his companion with a shocked expression. Morrigan also gaped at the Warden, but said nothing.

"Ahh I'm sorry for your loss. Such a sad thing to see a man made a widower in his prime. What can I do to help you today?"

"Lothering seems changed with all these refugees. There were some highwaymen on the way down from the causeway, did you know about them?"

"What? I thought we drove them off two days ago."

"That's probable, but you won't need to drive them off again. They're worm food now."

"You killed them?"

"Yes" said Edward.

Another templar whispered to Ser Bryant, verifying Edward's story.

"There's a reward up for that, you know" said Bryant.

"Keep it. Donate it back to the Chantry. You're going to need every copper to evacuate this place."

"You speak of the darkspawn? Were you at Ostagar?" asked Bryant.

"We are Grey Wardens, well three of us are. We were at the battle but not involved in the main fighting, but a side skirmish from which we were lucky to survive".

Bryant lowered his tone and whispered "did you know that Loghain has ordered all Grey Wardens arrested? He has declared you traitors and regicides."

"What?" cried Alistair.

"Shh - keep your voice down, Alistair!" said Edward.

"I know the Wardens would do no such thing, and my men will not harm or hinder you. But you must realise that I can't be seen to be helping an enemy of the state."

"I understand. Thanks for the information, at any rate. We'll get out of Lothering as fast as we can. I suggest you do the same, that horde will be through here in under a week" said Edward.

Ser Bryant nodded and saluted before turning to speak with some other Templars.

Spotting a lone figure in the garb of a Redcliffe knight, Alistair walked over and tapped the knight on the shoulder. Turning around, the knight stared at Alistair, thinking, before saying "Alistair? Is that you?"

"Ser Donall!" said Alistair.

"By the Maker, we thought you were dead, along with the other Grey Wardens at Ostagar."

"It was a close thing. Not all the Wardens are dead, but we three are perhaps the last in Ferelden."

Donall looked over at Edward and Nereid. Morrigan was busy snuffing out votive candles with a grin on her face.

"Some advice for you. There is a bounty on the heads of the Wardens. Keep yourselves hidden and keep moving. Be wary of strangers and keep your wits about you."

"Thank you, Ser Donall" said Edward.

Alistair brought out a locket and note which he had recovered from the highwaymen earlier in the day. He handed them to the knight, saying "I'm sorry but your friend Ser Henric is dead."

"Maker's mercy. I wonder how many knights will fall on this quest" said Donall.

"The note mentioned the Urn of Sacred Ashes?" said Alistair.

"The Urn is believed to contain the ashes of Andraste, which can cure any illness. Arl Eamon has been struck with a dread disease that refuses all our healing and medicine craft. If we were able to recover this relic, we could cure him."

"Arl Eamon is our best bet to counter Loghain and solidify support against him. But if he's sick..." Alistair's thoughts trailed away.

"We can stop in at Redcliffe while we're on the west side of the lake, Alistair. We practically go past anyway" said Edward.

"I agree, and sooner rather than later. If the Arl is sick then time might be running out" he muttered.

Seeing their options disappearing, and conscious of getting out of Lothering quickly, Edward shook Ser Donall's hand, saying "thanks once again for your advice. We had best get moving. Hopefully if we meet in Redcliffe in the future, its' under better circumstances."

Ser Donall saluted and turned back to the book he was looking through.

The travellers walked from the Chantry across the bridge and over to the Inn, Dane's Refuge. "In Dane's Refuge, there's an acquaintance of mine who runs a supply shop named Barlin. He's a nice old chap, and we should see him before we leave. I arranged to get some horses delivered to him, so if we were able to get them it would save us a lot of walking" said Edward.

"We also need to trade for some bits and pieces" put in Nereid, who was counting off the low number of arrows she had in her quiver.

They strolled inside and were presented with a typical view of a busy inn. Some patrons were listening to a bard, the inkeeper was selling watered down draughts of ale, and tavern wenches weaved through the crowd with the skill of a dancer. Morrigan squinted and was about to say something when a soldier stood up and pointed at the Wardens. "You - you're Grey Wardens! I saw you at Ostagar" he yelled.

The noise in the inn faded as his accusation struck home. Other soldiers at the same table as the first one stood, some readying weapons.

Edward saw motion behind the soldier, and grinned. "So let me get this straight. The Grey Wardens, a group who do _nothing_ but fight the darkspawn, betrayed the army so the _darkspawn_ could win the day? Killing the King who was our biggest sponsor, and almost all of our order at the same time? That's what you're saying?"

The crowd muttered, hostile.

"Well... yes. I was there! Teryn Loghain pulled us from a trap!"

"The problem we have here, is who is the bigger fucking idiot - Loghain for making up this load of shit, or you for believing him!" yelled Edward, using his height to tower over and intimidate the soldier.

"But... the Wardens..." began the soldier.

The crowd booed at the soldier. Someone threw a pewter mug at one of the soldiers, hitting him in the cheek. Several members of the crowd blew raspberries and began shouting witty comments like "rubbish!", "gerroff!" and "fuck off!"

Edward nodded and from behind the mouthy soldier, Barlin raised a cast iron frying pan, and clocked him on the head, knocking him out cold. The innkeeper held a blade at a second soldier's throat, saying "don't move. I'm afraid the inn is no longer serving drinks for you lads" he added. The other soldiers, realising that instead of four travellers and a dog, they were now facing probably sixty pissed-off villagers as well, dropped their weapons.

Alistair disarmed the inkeeper's victim, and they put the collected weapons on a table. While the others dealt with the soldiers, Edward went over to Barlin and shook his hand. "Nice timing there, my friend."

"It's good to see you, Ed. They say you was made a Warden? Good to see you survived that battle" said Barlin with a toothless grin. "Now we got the good news out of the way, time for the bad."

"Bad news?" asked Edward.

"Yeah. Your horses got here last week, but when the army came through on retreat, they scooped all of 'em up, press gang like. Compulsory seizure, they says. Arseholes didn't pay nuffink for them either, just a tax credit note which is worth fuck all."

Edward sighed. "So there's no horses we can get at all?"

"Well they didn't take all of 'em. I know a guy out on one of the outlying farms and he sold me three donkeys just two days ago. You can take one of them, use him to carry your stuff. Best I can do, Ed."

"It'll have to do, thanks Barlin. You're getting out of here, aren't you? The spawn will be here within a week".

"Yep, packed and leaving in two days."

Alistair was talking to the innkeeper. "Not that I'm complaining, but why did you all stick your necks out for us back there?" he asked.

"My uncle was a Warden. We also all know Ed, he used to come here with his Lisa. She was a real firebrand that one, enough woman for three men. But Ed calmed her down, and we all helped him out when she passed on a year and a half ago."

"I didn't even know about his... umm ...wife until earlier" said Alistair.

"Well he would have told you when he was ready. You don't just start a conversation by saying 'what lovely weather, oh by the way my wife died' " the innkeeper said. He uncorked a bottle and poured a few glasses of golden liquid, passing them to the Wardens and Morrigan. Alistair put a silver down on the bar, but the inkeeper said "no, this one's on me. Those soldiers stopped paying four rounds ago, so you've saved me a lot of hassle by chucking them out".

A Chantry sister had come forwards and was reviving the knocked out soldier. Edward stood beside her and asked "how's our stupid friend doing?"

"He'll have a headache for a few days. I must say I was pleased that you didn't have to kill any of these men" said the sister, looking up at Edward. Nereid sat up on the table, watching the soldier carefully.

Edward looked at the sister, liking her red hair and bright blue eyes. "Your accent - Orlesian?" he asked.

"I grew up in Orlais before coming here" she replied. "I remember you - you came to the Chantry a couple of times, didn't you?"

"I did, yes. But these soldiers are right, I'm a Grey Warden now. My name is Edward" he said, offering his hand. The sister shook it, and Edward noted that there was a solid grip there.

"My name is Leliana. I was one of the lay sisters at the Chantry" she said, indicating her robes.

"Was?" asked Edward. "What happened?"

"Well, you are here to fight the blight aren't you? That is what Grey Wardens do? I'd like to come along."

"I'm all for volunteers, but Leliana, this won't be a picnic. We'll be doing a serious amount of killing. Are you sure you can stomach that? Can you fight, or do you have other skills?"

"I wasn't always a Chantry sister. I can fight with bow or blades. I can also pick locks, tell tales and sing".

Nereid, who had been listening to the exchange, interrupted with "we don't only kill darkspawn. There's all manner of things trying to stop us, even people like this one" she said, poking the soldier.

"What do you think, Nereid?" asked Edward.

The elf nodded and extended her hand to Leliana. "My name is Nereid, over there is Alistair and Morrigan. The friendly four legged one is Huolir" she said with a smile.

Leliana shook the elf's hand and beamed. "Thank you, I won't let you down."

The soldier woke up after Leliana had bandaged his head. "Owww." he muttered.

"Right, wakey wakey, Sergeant idiot. You're now a messenger. I want you to take a message to Loghain. It's all here on this paper. Read it" ordered Edward.

"_Loghain, we know what you did at Ostagar and we're not giving up. Enjoy your small victory while is lasts. signed, the Grey Wardens._"

Edward rolled up the paper and sealed it, using wax and a ring that Alistair had as a signet. Passing it to the soldier, he let the man up and escorted him to the door.

Picking up his drink from the bar, he raised a toast to the house, saying "thank you, people of Lothering!" before downing his drink in one shot. The crowd cheered and soon returned to the usual hubbub of a busy inn.

The group spent some time in the inn, making sure that everyone was equipped as well as possible. Nereid picked up a few more arrows, and Edward found a deep plum coloured cloak which he bought for Morrigan. Passing it to her, he said "it will start to get colder, so this should help keep the chill at bay."

Morrigan blinked, saying "I... thank you, Warden. This is a fine gift indeed." Morrigan was at a bit of a loss because this was the first time that someone had simply given her something.

After the group was equipped as best as they could manage, they left the inn and made their way to the town gate, aiming to pick up the causeway again and travel north. Barlin had provided a donkey for carrying their gear. At the gate was a crow cage and inside was a giant of a man. His odd lavender coloured eyes and slightly pointed ears, bronze skin and sheer bulk identified him as a qunari.

"Well now. Here's something you don't see every day" said Edward.

The qunari noticed him and growled "you aren't one of my captors. I'll not amuse you any more than I have the other humans. Leave me in peace."

"You're a prisoner? Who put you here?"

Leliana spoke up, saying "the Revered Mother said he slaughtered an entire farming family, even the children."

The qunari looked impassively at Edward. "It is as she says. I am Sten of the Beressad, the Vanguard of the Qunari peoples."

"I have heard of your kind. The giants of the north. You're a long way from home, Sten" said Edward.

Beckoning Alistair over, he whispered "we could use this one. Have you heard about their skill in battle?"

Alistair nodded "it looks like they were planning on leaving him to the darkspawn. If we spring him, we'll have to leave Lothering right away. Unless you can convince the Revered Mother to part with the key to the cage."

Edward pondered, looking at Leliana. "I can't, but she might be able to" he said.

Turning back to the qunari, Edward said "Sten, we are Grey Wardens, dedicated to stopping the blight. If we were able to free you, you could seek out your atonement for the killing of those farmers. Use your skills against the darkspawn."

"It is true. Death in battle is preferable to death in this cage. Very well. Release me and I will follow you against the blight."

"Leliana and I will go and see the Revered Mother. Give Sten some food and water, we shouldn't be long" said Edward.

The Revered Mother sat in her study, off to one side of the main Chantry hall. Ser Bryant had shown Leliana and Edward in, quietly closing the door behind them. The Revered Mother stood up and greeted Leliana, then smiled at Edward before bringing him into a warm embrace. "So good to see you again, Edward. How have you been?" she asked.

Edward explained that he had become a Grey Warden, telling the story of the battle of Ostagar. As he told the tale, Leliana and the Revered Mother listened, hanging on every word. When his tale was concluded, Leliana wiped away a tear, and the Revered Mother sniffed, her eyes shining.

"It seems you have had your share of bad luck, Edward. What can I do to help?" she asked.

"The qunari in the crow cage. If you were to release him into my custody, we could use him as a soldier against the blight."

"The qunari could do a great deal of good by helping the Wardens. I am sure of it" added Leliana.

"Done. I trust you, Leliana. Here's the key."

"Thank you, your reverence. Make sure you leave as soon as you can" said Edward, opening the door.

Leliana bowed and followed Edward out of the Revered Mothers' study. Catching up to Edward, she asked "Edward, can I quickly grab some of my things?"

"Sure, Leliana. We should hurry though, the others are waiting."

Leliana led Edward into the rear rooms of the Chantry, and in one of the side rooms was a simple bed with a dresser and desk. Leliana began grabbing things from the dresser, opening drawers and extracting various items. Edward said "I'll just be waiting outside, Leliana."

Leliana looked up and nodded as Edward left the room. She took the opportunity to find her old leather armour. Still well looked after and supple, she quickly shed her chantry robe and changed into the leather equipment. Grabbing some toiletries from her dresser, she put her items quickly and efficiently into a well worn leather pack. Finally saying goodbye to her home for the last couple of years, she turned and went out to where Edward was waiting. Edward was surprised at the change in the chantry sister. Looking her up and down, he said "well, your armour is a little more revealing than the chantry robes, I'll give you that."

Leliana smiled and said "well as long as I meet with your approval, we can be off, yes?"

As they walked through the Chantry, Edward turned to Leliana and asked "why did you want to join us, Leliana?"

Leliana sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I had a dream. No, a vision! In it, I dreamed of an incredible darkness that swallowed everything. There was this terrible noise as the darkness consumed everything. I stood on a peak and when everything was dark, I fell... When I woke, I went out to the gardens" she gestured over to the right as they passed under the arch at the front of the Chantry. "There was a dead rosebush out there. But overnight it had grown a single beautiful rose. It was as if the Maker said that even in the midst of all this despair there is hope".

Edward stopped and looked as Leliana turned to face him. This woman had laid her soul bare for him. He pulled her hand up and placed it with her palm over his heart. Leliana could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady. "As long as you can feel this, there's hope" he said. He dropped his hands and Leliana held hers in place for a few seconds, then with a smile she turned, the pair walking to where the other companions were waiting for them. _This was going to be interesting_, thought Leliana.

When they released Sten, Edward gave him a large two handed sword. The group walked up to the causeway and as they came up onto the top ramp, a group of half a dozen darkspawn attacked them. The travellers had no problem repelling the attack, and within thirty seconds all the darkspawn were dead. While checking the corpses for anything salvageable, Nereid found a pair of dwarves who had been hiding amongst the wrecked crates. The elder one dusted himself off, and helped up his younger companion. "Mighty timely arrival my friends, I'm much obliged! Name's Bodahn Feddic, and this here is my son, Sandal."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note:** Broken Circle. In the several days that it would take to walk from Lothering north to the Mage Tower, Edward would have had time to learn more about his travelling companions. I would imagine that he and Sten would hit it off fairly well, as both would have similar military backgrounds. Also, after nearly two years of celibacy and now travelling with not one, but three gorgeous women, ol' Eddie is looking for some action._

_This chapter was quite long so I split it in half. Enjoy!_

**Part 5.**

"So it was somewhere around here, Sten?" asked Edward, indicating the steep path down to the lake.

"It was. Seven of us fell to the darkspawn that night" replied Sten.

Edward thought about this for a minute as the group crested the hill. Over the last few days, Edward had learned that his qunari friend had been part of a group which was sent to Ferelden to learn about the blight. While they were in this place by the lake, they'd been attacked and slaughtered, Sten being the only survivor. What bothered Sten more than being wounded was the loss of his sword. Edward gathered it was like an heirloom, something that was a part of Sten. Edward likened Sten's situation to the loss of a limb.

Edward and Sten had begun sparring with each other in the evenings, using staves wrapped in hemp rope. The larger qunari had power and bulk, but Edward had mobility and speed, and the matches often came out closer than either one expected. Alistair also tried to spar, but he wasn't comfortable sparring against Sten, and Edward seemed to have the measure of him so far. Morrigan would watch these sparring matches with interest, enjoying the gritty fighting, even if it did mean she had to make a few extra health poultices. Leliana and Nereid would watch and sometimes keep score for the combatants. Leliana had commented on some of the scars on Edward's torso to Nereid. She wondered what they would feel like under her fingertips.

"Keep back! This 'ere is my spot!" came a cry from a grubby little wreck of a man.

"What are you talking about, you bloody idiot?" said Edward, amused at the antics of the other man.

"It's my salvage spot. Everything here is mine, so go on, piss off!" he replied.

"Salvage? You found anything interesting?" asked Edward, deliberately knocking his coin purse so it clinked.

"Oh yeah. Maybe. I found a glove. I think it's a glove..." he trailed off.

Edward beckoned Sten over, then turned back and asked "found any swords? Big ones, like something a giant would use?"

"Nah, nuffink like that. I think I got dudded on this spot to tell the truth."

"Who sold it to you? What was his name?"

"Oh, that's easy. A blood nut bastard called Faryn. He sold it me about two weeks ago and I ain't got much out of it except for a couple of bits of armour and some horse shoes."

"Where is this Faryn now?" asked Sten.

"I heard he was headed to Orzammar. You see him there, you punch him in the face for me."

Edward nodded, and flicked the man a silver coin. Looking up at his qunari friend, he said "sounds like a lead to me, Sten."

"Indeed, Warden" said the qunari. Sten waited a moment before asking "Warden, the scavenger mentioned 'blood nut'. What did he mean?"

"Oh - it's a red head. Blood is red, nut is slang for head. Bloodnut" explained Edward.

"I see. So Leliana would be a bl..." the rest of his sentence was muffled as Edward covered Sten's mouth with his hand.

Leliana frowned, she had heard the conversation, as the scavenger was still shouting to himself in the background.

"Leliana is a flame haired goddess, not a bloodnut" corrected Edward. Leliana smiled and blushed slightly.

"But her hair is red..." began Sten.

"It's a human thing, Sten. Only men are bloodnuts" said Edward, exasperated.

"I won't even pretend to understand, Warden. You humans are strange" said Sten.

At the bottom of the hill, on the edge of the lake, there stood a wharf. There were no boats attached to the wharf, and no-one seemed to be about. Looking up, Edward noted that as dusk was approaching, the boatman may have just finished up for the night. The travellers walked back uphill, towards the inn they had passed on the way down. Edward smiled at the thought of a night indoors as he pushed open the door and walked inside.

The tavern keeper looked up as they came in, and shot them a wide grin. "Evening, travellers! Welcome to the Spoiled Princess. What can I get you?"

Edward approached the bar and sat himself on a stool. Alistair joined him, while the others paired off onto two tables. "We'll start with a couple of jugs of ale, with six mugs, thanks. We'll need rooms for the night - two or three rooms, I'd say" said Edward.

"No problems there, friend. We have three rooms which I can give you a good rate on. I'll get your ale then show you upstairs."

"Can you tell us about the ferry to the Mage Tower?" asked Edward.

"Ahh. Well the ferryman is at home at the moment. Since the trouble started in the tower, one of the Templars has been doing the ferrying. He goes back across in the evening, comes back in the morning. You've missed him by about half an hour, I'd wager" said the innkeeper, pulling two jugs of ale.

"Trouble? What trouble?" asked Alistair.

"Can't say for certain. All I know is they stopped everyone coming or going from the tower about two days ago. There's been no news, only a couple of riders and they didn't say anything."

"If you remember anything, let us know. We have to get across there tomorrow, somehow" said Edward.

The innkeeper nodded, and stacked some mugs on a platter. Leaving the ale, he led the group upstairs, where three small but clean rooms waited. Morrigan immediately claimed one room, and made it clear that she would only share it with Nereid. Shrugging, the elf followed her into the room. Sten and Alistair took the next room, Alistair throwing his bedroll out on the floor without much fuss. "Looks like you're with me, Leliana. I could squash in with the others, if you like..." said Edward.

"No, I don't bite" said Leliana. '_Well not unless you want me to, that is_' she thought.

"Hmm, double bed. Want to flip for it?" asked Edward, pulling out a silver coin.

"Edward! We can share. We're both adults. I can trust you to keep your hands to yourself, can't I?" asked Leliana with a smile.

Leliana's smile was infectious, and Edward found himself grinning as he and Leliana both unpacked various bits and pieces from their packs. He quickly stripped off his chest armour, and was bringing up his tunic when he felt a touch on his back. Leliana was running her fingers along one of his scars. Probably the crescent shaped one he got in Cumberland, that was pretty impressive, he thought. As he turned around, Edward noted that Leliana was biting her bottom lip and her cheeks were flushed.

"I thought _I_ had to keep my hands to myself?" said Edward, quietly.

Leliana blinked, realising what she'd done, and stammered "oh, Maker. Edward, I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me. You were just so close and... and I just wanted to touch them. I'm sorry, I'll move my things in with Morrigan and Nereid."

Edward put one finger to his mouth and put his other hand on Leliana's shoulder. "It's fine, Leliana. Come on, sit down for a minute."

Leliana allowed herself to be led to the bed and sat down, while Edward pulled over a chair and sat facing her. Edward looked at her carefully, and then asked "Leliana, how long were you at the Chantry in Lothering?"

"Two years" she replied.

"And what about before that, were you at a different Chantry, maybe in Orlais?"

"No, I was a minstrel in Orlais before that."

"That's quite an abrupt change" said Edward.

"Well, the time had come to just put my old life aside. When I came to Lothering, I found peace in the Chantry there".

'_Something must have driven her there_' thought Edward.

Leliana looked at Edward. She seemed about to say something, but stopped. After a few seconds, she asked "do you miss your wife?"

Edward looked at her eyes carefully. There was no hint of teasing or malice, just friendliness. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. She's been gone over a year and a half now. I've had time to heal though, so its' not as painful now as it was. The memories, I mean. I only remember the good times now."

"We should go back down. Tell me some of the good times after supper, yes?" said Leliana.

"I will. And Leliana, stay here tonight."

Leliana smiled and said "of course, Edward. I want to hear some of your stories." With that she went to the door.

"I'll just have a quick wash and be down in a minute. Pour me an ale, Leliana, make sure Nereid doesn't drink it all" said Edward with a smirk.

Edward came downstairs to see that his companions had pulled together two of the tables to make space for the six of them. Huolir was sitting contentedly gnawing on a bone by the fire. Seeing a place set for him, Edward sat down. In his place there was a tankard of ale, and he downed half the tankard in one go. Edward noticed that Sten had discreetly asked for milk and was drinking that. Morrigan had also foregone the ale and had a goblet of wine, the opened bottle sitting on the table.

"Right folks, I trust the rooms are to your satisfaction. What would you like to eat?" asked the innkeeper. "I should point out that we've got some lake trout today" he added.

"Sounds good. Baked trout it is. Some bread and cheese while we wait would go down very well" said Edward, nodding towards Alistair, who grinned. "That alright for everyone?" asked Edward.

As no-one disagreed, Edward got up and followed the innkeeper back to the bar. "How much are we up for with the rooms and meal, good fellow?" he asked.

"Hmm. I'd guess just a bit over a sovereign all up."

Edward thumbed down two sovereigns onto the bar. "Tomorrow morning we need to be up at sunrise. Can you have packed up some bread, cheese, salted or dried meat, couple of waterskins, couple of bottles of wine, dried fruit. You know, trail ration type stuff."

"Yessir, I'll make sure of it. Err... you said you was going to the Mages Tower? The Templar came over about an hour after dawn yesterday. Should be enough time to eat, then get packed and be down there, I'd wager."

"Good. Thanks, friend" replied Edward, pushing the cash across the bar.

When he sat back down, Edward noticed his tankard had been refilled for him. Soon he was enjoying some sharp cheese and bread with his ale, and the whole group seemed at ease. Even the stoic Sten didn't look tense. Nereid was enjoying herself especially, having drunk almost all of one pitcher of ale. Leliana was telling her about some of the wines in Orlais, and Morrigan was listening and occasionally taking a sip of her red wine.

The main course arrived and after a long while where stews were normal fare, the baked trout was delicious. As they finished it, Nereid asked for another couple of bottles of wine. Leliana and Nereid were drinking the potent wine like water. Edward and Alistair had finished the second jug of ale, but Edward hadn't ordered any more. The night drew on, and Morrigan excused herself and went upstairs to bed. Thinking that was a good idea, Edward said "we'll be up at dawn tomorrow. We should all get some sleep."

Sten rose and he and Alistair left. Nereid was looking very flushed. Her slight elven frame seemed to be able to absorb the alcohol readily. She was a little unsteady, but grinned at Edward and staggered upstairs, Huolir padding up after her. _I hope she doesn't throw up on Morrigan_, thought Edward. Leliana was humming some Orlesian tune, and she collapsed against Edward with a smirk on her face. "Let's go to bed, Ed" she mumbled, before giggling at her impromtu rhyme.

With a sigh, Edward put his arm around the bard's shoulders and flicked her legs up with his other hand. Leliana yawned and leaned into Edward's shoulder. Edward clomped upstairs, carrying the dozy bard in his arms. Using his bum to push open the door into their room, he propped Leliana up on her feet. She yawned again, but remained holding on to Edward. "Come on Leliana, over here" said Edward, half-walking, half-dragging her to the wash stand. He poured a mug of water, then poured some water into the basin. Wetting his free hand, he splashed Leliana's face, waking her up a little. "Drink this" said Edward, handing her the mug of water.

Leliana did as she was told, spilling a little, but drinking at least half of the mug.

"What do you sleep in, Leliana?" asked Edward.

"A tent" she answered, dreamily.

"No, I know that. What do you wear to bed? You need to get changed now" said Edward.

"Oh" was the reply. Letting go of Edward, Leliana staggered over to her pack. Hanging on the back of a chair was a shirt. "This'll do" said Leliana.

_"That's one of my shirts" _thought Edward. _ "Pah, who cares, it'll look better on her anyway."_

Leliana stripped off while Edward poured some more water into the wash basin. Quickly splashing his face and using his toothrag to clean his teeth, he dried off as Leliana pulled his shirt on. While it did cover a lot of Leliana, it didn't leave much to the imagination either. She stumbled over to Edward and proceeded as best she could with having a wash and cleaning her teeth. Edward changed quickly and jumped into bed. He closed his eyes and heard Leliana padding across the floor towards him. He felt the bed go down and the covers raise. He could feel her against him, snuggling up with her back to him. After a short while Edward leaned over, catching the scent of her hair, and put one arm around her before saying "goodnight, Leliana".

Leliana was already asleep.

About half an hour before sunrise, there was a knock at the door, as the innkeeper's maid did the morning wake-up calls for the three rooms. Edward was on his back and Leliana was wrapped around him, using his chest as a pillow. Edward yawned and thought "I could get used to this". Leliana mumbled as Edward gently eased her onto the pillows, pulling himself away from the bards' embrace. Edward opened the door and grabbed the fresh pitchers of hot and cold water, using them to make a warm basin of water to wash in. After he had finished washing, he threw on a tunic and looked over at Leliana. She was watching Edward from the bed, her blue eyes still half closed from sleep. "Did we...?" she asked.

"No. You were out like a light as soon as you hit the bed" replied Edward. "I'll meet you downstairs, best hurry, we have a long day ahead of us."

Edward walked over to the door and stood in the doorway, then shrugged. He turned around and with a few steps was beside the bed only a short distance from Leliana. Looking directly at the bard, he said "that was the best night's sleep I've had in a long time, Leliana. Thank you." So saying, he leaned in and kissed the surprised bard on the forehead. With a sigh, he turned and left, closing the door on the way out.

Over breakfast, Edward hashed out his plans for the Mage Tower. They knew there was trouble at the tower, but they didn't know what exactly. They knew that they needed the support of the Mages, so that meant talking to the First Enchanter, who was called Irving, according to Alistair. There were also Templars who may be useful as allies against the more exotic magics of the darkspawn.

"We take supplies for three days. If we know this ferry is being stopped at night, then things might be serious over there. We have to assume that getting the treaty handed over isn't going to be cut and dried" said Edward.

Morrigan was listening very carefully to this information. "Why are we persuing these mages at all, Warden?"

Edward looked over at Morrigan. "Two reasons, Morrigan. First, firepower. One mage is worth many men in combat. Second reason is I intend to invoke the right of conscription there and get us a healing mage. I think we all can see that as we gather more friends, we will attract larger and better equipped groups against us. That means injuries. I know you can't heal, and none of us are mages, so we have to rely on poultices."

"Ah. So this is mainly for my benefit, is it?" said Morrigan with a smirk. Morrigan and Nereid had both been making herbal poultices in the evenings at camp, and the witch had complained about it on several occasions.

"If you like" replied Edward, shooting her a charming smile.

"We should be careful over there. The Templars would love to catch themselves an apostate" said Alistair.

Edward looked at Alistair and then back at Morrigan. "While Morrigan is with us, they shouldn't bother her."

Morrigan nodded her thanks.

At the dock, the group waited for the ferry to arrive. They were still a little early according to the innkeeper, so Edward was checking his pauldron while the others sat and waited. Sten and Alistair were talking about the darkspawn attack on the qunari group, while Leliana and Nereid were chatting idly while squatting on the cool ground. As he shed his pauldron, Morrigan wandered over to Edward. "Hello Morrigan" said Edward.

"Warden, I have... hmm" muttered the witch.

"Are you alright, Morrigan? If you're worried about templars you can wait up at the inn, we should be fine."

"What? Oh, no it's not that. I had a favour to ask, actually."

"Let's hear it. Oh, while you tell me, can you hold this strap straight please? Little bugger keeps twisting."

Morrigan leaned closer and held the leather strap running down Edward's side. "While the tower is in disarray, I believe we should take advantage of the situation" began Morrigan.

"How so?" asked Edward.

"Some time ago, my mother was divested of a very precious book by a particularly zealous Templar. I am sure that this book would have made it back to this tower" continued Morrigan.

"Ah, I see. So while they're running about like disturbed ants, we should plunder the nest?"

"Exactly, Warden. The book is black leather and has a leafless tree on both covers. If we find it, I would be very pleased indeed".

Edward snapped his pauldron back in place and pulled the strap down, tightening the armour. Gently removing Morrigan's hand and tucking in the strap, he said "sure, we'll get your book if it's there."

Morrigan smiled, saying "my thanks... Edward."

When the ferry arrived, the argumentative templar who crewed it attempted to block the groups' attempts to get across the lake. Edward knew that he did not have time to be arguing with this stupid shit of a man. As the Templar looked lustfully at Nereid, Edward cuffed him across the back of the head, hard enough to knock him out. throwing the Templar in the bottom of the boat, they loaded up. Nereid convinced Huolir to sit still in the boat. With Sten taking one oar and Edward the other, they made good time across the water.

As they paddled across, Nereid asked Alistair "why does the tower look like a giant penis?"

Alistair, who had been drinking some water at that moment, let out a spray of water and began coughing harshly. Nereid giggled, with Morrigan and Leliana joining in a fit of laughter.

"Nereid, your timing is impeccable" said Edward, grinning while pulling back on his oar.

Soon a jetty was visible on the side of the island the tower was built on. Steering in towards it, Sten and Edward maneouvered the boat into place, while Alistair grabbed the jetty and fastened a couple of ropes onto the boat. "We better wake up our host" said Edward.

"Shit, you hit him hard, Edward" said Alistair, roughly hoisting the Templar into a sitting position. Edward shrugged, not saying anything.

Alistair splashed some water on the Templar, who spluttered and woke up, groggily. "Thanks for your hospitality, ser templar" said Alistair.

"Wha...?" said the Templar. "Ow, my head hurts. What happened?"

"You hit your head on the jetty when you were helping our lovely elven friend into your boat, don't you remember?" lied Edward. "We rowed you across in case you needed to see a healer" he continued. Nereid gave a short but deep bow, making sure the Templar saw clearly.

The Templar shrugged, wincing in pain. "I'll be alright" he said, getting a poultice and slapping it across the back of his head. He waved off the group, struggling to remember what had actually happened.

Greagoir stood in the centre of the ground floor of the tower. He was marshalling his Templar troops, who still held the lower floors - the stores and catacombs. The upper floors were overrun, and yesterday morning he'd ordered the great doors sealed, trapping any surviving Mages and Templars within. He turned as the outer doors opened, and gaped as the strangers entered. Six people - a qunari, four humans and an elf, along with a mabari hound. "Who the hell are you? I gave Carroll orders not to bring anyone across!" he growled.

"We're Grey Wardens. We would have come yesterday but there was no ferry" said Edward.

"It wouldn't have made any difference. The tower is lost" said Greagoir with a sigh.

"Lost? How?" asked Alistair.

"A couple of days ago, abominations began appearing at the top of the tower. Those they didn't kill outright, they enslaved or enthralled. Blood mages were running rampant, killing mages and templars alike. I ordered the doors sealed, and sent to Denerim for the right of Annulment yesterday morning."

"What's a Right of Annulment?" asked Nereid.

"It is permission to raze the tower. Kill everyone in it and start over. It would come with a contingent of Templars from Denerim" replied Greagoir.

"Isn't that a little extreme, even for Templars? What if there are survivors in there?" asked Edward.

"No. It's too late for survivors. The Tower must be cleansed."

"You sent for this Annulment thing yesterday, right?" asked Edward.

"Yes."

"A fast rider would take two days to get to Denerim. Say another two to rally the Templars and another three to get back here with the troops. That's a week."

Greagoir nodded.

"So we have some time then. We will go in and look for survivors, and get to the bottom of this. We must have those mages against the blight, any survivors will be worth it."

"You realise that you will be dealing with abominations in there? Not just one of them, either. And Maker knows what other things they have summoned in the last day or two" said Greagoir.

"Do you know if Irving is still alive?" asked Alistair.

"No, I don't know."

"We can deal with these abominations" said Edward.

"Once you cross that threshold, there is no turning back. The great doors have to remain barred. I'll open them for no one until I have proof that it is safe. I will only believe it is over if the first enchanter stands before me and tells me it is so. If Irving has fallen... then the Circle is lost, and must be destroyed" said Greagoir.

Edward nodded and beckoned his companions further into the room. A frightened looking man with a shaved head looked up at them as they approached. "Are you going in to the tower?" he asked.

"Yes, can you tell us anything helpful about the abominations?" asked Edward.

The man gulped, and said "they are like nothing on Thedas. Hideous to look at, and they wield dreadful magic. Some even strike with their limbs and where they hit open skin, it dissolves like wax on a flame."

Edward looked behind the man, seeing the piles of equipment and supplies. "Are you willing to loan or trade with us?" he asked.

"Of course. What do you need?" he replied, looking a little calmer.

Edward noticed an ornate looking staff, and waved Morrigan over. Passing the staff to her, he asked "would this be helpful at all, Morrigan?"

Morrigan eyed the staff carefully, gauging the power locked in the tough looking silver material. Hefting it a couple of times, she nodded at Edward, saying "yes, it would be an improvement indeed."

Edward found a well balanced two handed sword which he handed to Sten, and both Nereid and Leliana were able to get themselves fresh supplies of arrows. Alistair found a good piece of Templar chest armour that wasn't too badly dinged up. Nereid also picked up a wicked looking dagger, tucking it into her belt. Edward haggled with the trader, getting a decent price after a bit of back-and-forth. Finally equipped, the group entered the main doors.

The main doors clanged shut behind them, reminding Edward of a tomb sealing for some reason.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note: **Broken Circle part 2. Gathering Wynne and travelling through the tower, Edward learns about the abominations, ventures into the fade, kills blood mages and faces interesting dilemmas. I did cut the Fade section short, as it is quite a repetitve portion of the tale. Enjoy!_

**Part 6.**

The mage tower was built in a layered fashion, with circular corridoors flanked by rooms on the outside. The internal areas contained the stairs and usually some large room designated to a particular function, like a library or a store room. The winding corridoor past the door the templars had locked led to a second door further along. Over the doorway, a shimmering blue barrier flickered, sending a strange glow into the room which mixed with the sunlight coming in from the outer wall. Edward squinted as he saw the bright barrier, then noticed that there were figures in front of it. Quietly he signalled his friends to get their weapons ready. As they approached the figures, Edward raised his axe, hoping to get off a swing unawares. Out of the corner of his eye he saw... _a child_!

"Hold!" he cried.

Nereid pulled back, raising her bow so that if she loosed her shot by accident it would hit the roof.

The figures stood up, and now that the light wasn't directly behind them, Edward could see that there were a few adults and a trio of children. _Hmm, I recognise the older woman... from Ostagar, perhaps?_ he thought.

"Stand still. I will strike you down if you approach" said the older mage.

"I recognise you! Nereid, isn't this the mage we spoke to at Ostagar?" said Edward.

Nereid came forward and said "yes, it's her. Wynne?"

Wynne looked at the pair and sighed visibly. "Thank the maker, some of you Wardens survived. I thought Loghain's treachery had doomed your order" she said.

"He very nearly did" said Alistair. "Standing before you are the last Grey Wardens in Ferelden" he added.

"Who are your companions? And these children - are they apprentices?" asked Edward.

"They are, yes. This is Petra and Kinnon, and over there is Keili" said Wynne, indicating a pair of mages close by, and another standing off to one side.

"How long have you been stuck here?" asked Edward.

"Since they sealed the door yesterday morning. We have been attacked from time to time, but I put up a barrier, which holds off almost everything" explained Wynne.

Edward unslung his ration bag, and motioned for Alistair and Nereid to unsling their water skins. He pulled out the loaves the innkeeper had provided for them, along with some cheese and salted meat. He handed one loaf to Petra and broke the other into four, passing a quarter to each child and the remaining quarter to Wynne. Petra split her loaf into three between herself, Kinnon and Keili. Edward quickly divided up the cheese and meat, while Alistair and Nereid busied themselves making sure the mages had some water. Leliana and Sten also helped hand out some food, Edward's selflessness reminding them that these mages had not eaten in perhaps two days while they all had full bellies. Morrigan inspected the barrier and watched quietly.

Wynne explained what had happened as best she knew, with Kinnon and Petra occasionally adding commentary. There had been a large meeting with the mages, where Uldred, freshly returned from Ostagar, had urged the Mages to throw their support behind Loghain. Wynne had informed Irving of the machinations of Loghain at the battle, and Irving had left to return to the meeting, saying "leave it to me". Not long afterwards, abominations had begun to appear in the halls, running down and killing mages and templars with ease. Wynne had gathered those she could to fight back, but had found herself holed up on the lowest level. Petra had nearly been killed by a rage demon, but Wynne had managed to kill it, getting stunned in the process. After that, they had hunkered down, hoping to wait it out, killing anything that came along.

"So this Uldred is the one behind all the trouble?" asked Edward.

"I would say so, Warden. Perhaps Loghain promised him more autonomy for the Circle. He was always after more freedom" said Wynne.

"There was a mage at the meeting with the King, Edward. Can you remember him? Old-ish, bald..." said Nereid.

"That's him" said Wynne. "He was called to the strategy meeting with the King, as I recall" said Wynne.

Off to one side, Leliana was entertaining the children with a story while Sten looked on silently.

Edward pondered this new information. Looking over at Wynne, he said "you should know, Greagoir has sent to Denerim for the Right of Annulment. We have perhaps five days before the troops arrive."

Wynne looked dejected and mumbled "so he did it, then."

"If your First Enchanter, this... Irving - is still alive, and we're able to get him out of the bottom doors, then Greagoir will halt the Right of Annulment" said Edward.

Brightening at this, Wynne squared her shoulders and said "so our path is set. We need to get to Irving."

"You're coming along?" asked Nereid.

"Of course. You won't get past this barrier unless I lower it."

"Ah. That's not really accurate" said Alistair. "I can purge all magics, including your barrier, as a Templar."

"I also know the layout of the tower and am a capable healer. What do you say?" asked Wynne.

"Oh, don't misunderstand me, Wynne. I'm pleased you're coming along" said Edward.

The group gathered their equipment and prepared a small bag for Wynne. While Sten and Nereid helped divide some poultices and potions, Petra quietly came over to Edward. Edward looked down at the attractive mage, waiting for her to speak. "You'll take care of her, won't you?" she said.

"Of course, Petra. She'll come to no harm with us" replied Edward.

Petra furtively looked back at Wynne, then up at Edward. "When she fought off that demon that attacked me, she collapsed. I thought we'd lost her. When I knelt down near her, she woke up again. I just worry that the strain may all catch up with her."

"There's no need to worry, Petra. She will be at the back, covering us. We'll find this Uldred person and get to the bottom of this mess" said Edward, giving the mage a comforting squeeze on her shoulder.

"I'm ready, Warden" announced Wynne from over by the barrier.

"Will the kids be safe here?" asked Edward.

"Petra and Kinnon will protect them" she replied.

"And the other one, Keili?" asked Nereid.

Wynne just shook her head. _"That one, Keili, is broken"_ thought Edward. Wynne concentrated on the barrier and the light dimmed, then flickered and went out. The companions moved out into the towers' bottom floor, wary of their surroundings.

The first abomination that Edward saw demonstrated why they had that name. Where once was a human, now only a shambling husk remained. Below the torso, ragged remnants of mage robes hid spindly legs covered in pus-filled sores. Above the torso, it was as if a crazy sculptor had taken a human body and rearranged the features while heavily drunk. The entire creature emitted a foul reek, and large numbers of boils and pustules erupted from the skin like mushrooms after a storm. For all their freakish nature, Edward found that they could fall to the blade like mortal men. The sting in the tail happened afterwards. Morrigan was kneeling down to look at the corpse, when Edward smelt a burning and saw the corpse begin to expand. Quickly he dove at Morrigan, wrapping one arm around her slender waist. He pulled her over his own body, shielding her as the corpse blew into dust with a violent bang.

"Edward!" cried Leliana, who was close by. The others of the group emerged from around the corner where they had been looking at some carved chests. Leliana darted over and knelt beside Edward, her eyes wide. Edward was relatively unharmed, as he had his shield on his back, which absorbed the brunt of the blast. With his ears ringing, he rolled onto his back. "Are you alright, Morrigan?"

Morrigan stood up and dusted herself off, coughing, then extended a hand to Edward, helping Leliana to haul him up. "My thanks, Edward. If you had not grabbed me... well. 'Twould not have been pleasant."

Leliana checked Edward for burns, and finding none, she thanked the Maker that he wore plate mail. "So we should stay away from them when they die, yes?" she chuckled.

Edward cracked his jaw to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "Look, the body's _gone_. I mean nothing - no bones, no blood!" he said.

"Abominations indeed" muttered Morrigan.

Wynne quickly checked over Edward, and seeing nothing worth fussing over, she led the way upstairs. "There's someone up ahead" said Nereid, who had snuck forwards a little.

"Abomination?" asked Alistair and Edward, almost at the same time.

"No, it looks like a normal man" she said.

"Owain!" said Wynne, moving forwards to the strange man. "Why didn't you come downstairs, I could have let you through the barrier."

The other man looked at Wynne with cold, dead eyes, devoid of emotion. "I did go down there, but encountered a barrier. I came back up here to tidy up" he said, calmly.

"What's wrong with this man?" asked Edward.

"Owain is a Tranquil. He voluntarily went through a process where his mind is separated from the Fade, meaning that he loses his emotions. As a result, he can't be posessed, but he can't perform magic either" explained Wynne.

_"Yuck, what a horrible thing to happen"_ thought Edward.

"Owain, can you tell us what has happened here?" asked Wynne.

"I do not know. Niall said it began in the meeting. He came here and collected the Litany of Adralla, then left. That was late yesterday" said Owain.

"The Litany of Adralla? That guards against Blood Magic! Is that at work here?" Wynne asked.

"I do not know" came the dull reply.

"We should move on. Owain, the path is clear back to the main doors. You should leave" said Edward.

Owain nodded and glided towards the steps that led back downwards. Wynne was thinking about what Owain had said. "Tell me, Wardens. What do you know about Blood Magic?" she asked.

"Hardly anything really. The Tevinters were supposed to use it, but that was ages ago" said Edward.

Nereid shrugged, and Alistair answered "it's a form of magic that uses blood to power spells. It also allows control of a body through the blood. It's pretty nasty stuff, banned by the Chantry. Blood Mages are supposed to be killed by Templars on sight."

As they talked about Blood Mages, they carefully made their way around the curved corridoors, beating down the occasional abomination and rage demon that popped up. Hearing voices ahead, Nereid signalled the others, putting a finger to her lips and then drawing an arrow. She peeped around a doorway, and saw three blood mages in heated argument. Backing away from the door, she held up three fingers. Edward nodded, motioning for Leliana to come forwards. He quickly looked around the doorway, noting the positions of the mages. He fumbled in his pack for a small glass sphere he'd been carrying. Inside it was a corrosive acid. Holding the sphere in his weapon hand, he whispered to Leliana and Nereid "shoot when I throw this. Nereid you take the woman side on to us, Leliana, get the guy with his back to us, alright?"

The women nodded. Alistair moved forwards, ready to use his templar abilities should one of the mages break for the door. Edward stood in front of the doorway and yelled "hey! Dickheads!" before pelting the sphere at the rearmost of the three mages. The sphere hit with the force of an arrow, smashing on impact and spraying acid into the face of the back mage, and onto the robes of the other two. Edward counted to three and then ducked out of sight past the doorframe. Leliana had enough time to line up and kill her mage, and Nereid fired a second later, burying an arrow in the ribcage of the second mage. The last mage was screaming as acid burned away his face, his eyes already gone, and glass shards from the sphere ripping into his cheeks. He was too busy dying to notice Sten walk in and put him out of his misery by ramming a two handed sword through his heart.

They proceeded in this way - fighting, resting, walking and fighting some more. Abominations and demons fell as they approached Irving's office on a higher floor. Inside his large office, large bookshelves and cabinets with nick nacks and artefacts showed some of the habits of the studious First Enchanter. As they spread out, looking through the room and taking a short break, Edward spotted a chest in the corner with no lock on it. Idly flicking it open, he looked inside and saw the book that Morrigan had described that morning. He grabbed it without thinking, and added it to his pack, taking out a couple of apples and some cheese while he had his pack open. Walking over to Wynne, he passed her an apple and a hunk of the cheese. "Where do you think he is, Wynne?"

"I'm not sure Warden. The meeting was up in the harrowing chamber. I guess he could be up there" replied Wynne.

"That's the top floor?" asked Edward.

"Yes. There's only a couple of floors between here and there. We've made good progress so far."

"What's on the next floor?"

"Templar quarters and a restricted access library" said Wynne.

"Let's get moving, people" said Edward, leading the way out and upstairs. At the top of the stairs they noticed a lot of peculiar fleshy structures scattered around the walls and pillars. Nereid poked one with her bow, and it deflated, emitting a long tinny farting noise as it did. "Great, so along with abominations and blood mages and demons, we now have to deal with whoopee cushions stuck to the walls" said Alistair.

Along the corridoor, the group opened a door to see a Templar, pinned in place by a bizarre looking woman. At first glance, Edward thought it was a woman. _"No,"_ he thought. _"That's some sort of demon. The horns are a dead giveaway."_

"What's going on here? What are you?" he asked the strange woman-demon-thing.

"You are intruding on a loving, intimate moment, and I dislike interruptions" came the eerie, calm reply.

"Can he see us?" asked Edward, pointing at the Templar.

"Not unless I wish it. I do not."

"What did you do to him?"

"I saw his desire for a loving wife and family, and merely fulfilled that desire. Surely there is nothing wrong with that?"

Edward thought about this, even as some of his friends voiced their disagreements. The desire demon ignored the others, sensing that Edward held the chance of her survival. "It is a simple enough wish" he said, quietly.

"So what are your intentions? All we wish is to be left alone for what little time we have" said the demon.

"Warden, this is not our fight. The Templar must choose his own path" said Sten.

Nodding, Edward said "I agree. I don't really like what you've done here, but I can't fault the Templar for such a desire. If we leave you alone, will you do the same?"

"It is agreed, I will not harm you or your companions. You have my thanks, for what they are worth" said the demon, turning back to the Templar.

Bundling the others out of the room, Edward noted Sten looking at him carefully. The qunari didn't say anything, just nodding at Edward. Leliana stepped up to Edward and said "did we do the right thing there? The Templar was happy... but" before trailing off.

"I can't fault a man for wanting the same things I want, Leliana. I certainly wouldn't kill him for them. You understand, don't you?" asked Edward, quietly.

"Of course, Edward" said Leliana. She quickly looked around, and seeing that the rest of the party had moved on, she turned back, stretched up and gave Edward a kiss on the cheek. "That's twice you've shown me you have a heart, you know" she said, smiling.

"That's our secret, alright?" said Edward, returning Leliana's smile. "Come on. The others are waiting" he said.

Wynne pointed at a pair of doors. "Through here, Wardens, then a few more rooms and we'll be at the stairs that lead to the harrowing chamber" she said. Edward and Alistair leaned against a door each, then when Alistair nodded, they pushed together. As the doors swung open, the group saw a lone demon standing over the body of a mage. A large fleshy structure was pulsing behind the demon, which looked like someone had stacked about ten arses, one on top of the other, then covered them with pink slime. The demon swung around to face them, and to everyone's surprise, it spoke. "Oh look, visitors. I'd entertain you, but ... too much effort involved."

"Fine by me. Just hold still, this will probably hurt" said Edward, drawing his axe.

"But why hurt me. Why don't you just take a load off. Relax, you need a rest" said the demon.

Edward heard Huolir drop to the floor asleep, then one by one, despite their protests, his companions slipped into a slumber. The muscles on Edward's neck tensed as he tried to move forwards, but his legs felt like lead. As he struggled, he heard the demon laughing, and eventually he too succumbed to sleep, collapsing on the ground.

Edward woke with a start. He was in a strange place where the sky was twisted and warped like toffee. Around him were pillars and statues in a grand hall. The place looked a little like the ruins near Ostagar, he thought. Getting to his feet, he walked up towards a circular pavilion where Duncan stood. _"Duncan is dead"_ thought Edward. _"What trickery is this?" _

Not-Duncan spoke, saying "aah. Good to see you again, Ed. What do you think of Weisshaupt?"

"I don't have time for this bullshit. You're dead, and if this is a dream, why the fuck am I not on my farm with my wife? And since when did you ever call me Ed?" growled Edward, pulling his axe from his belt.

"Eddie ... I'm not dead" said not-Duncan.

"Well, I'll fix that right now" said Edward, lofting a perfect strike with his axe, taking off not-Duncan's head. The body vanished in a puff of white smoke, and in its' place a ward drew itself on the ground. A pedestal rose from the stone slabs, looking a little like a sundial. Edward sheathed his axe and had a look at the pedestal. Looking from the pedestal to the ward, he noticed that it was a map of sorts. Edward twisted the centre piece and his surroundings blurred and shifted, changing to another location. Standing close by was a mage, judging by his robes.

"Well done! You made it out of that false dream" said the mage. "My name is Niall."

"Niall? Owain mentioned you. Something about a Litany of something or other" said Edward.

"I had the Litany, and was heading back up to the harrowing chamber when I encountered the Sloth Demon. The same one you encountered, judging by your presence here."

"What have you discovered about this place, Niall?" asked Edward.

"The pedestal will take you to different places in the Sloth Demon's realm. There's four other main areas aside from this one, each guarded by a sub-demon. I tried to get through them, to get to the centre island where the Sloth Demon should be, but there was always some obstacle. A door surrounded by fire, or made ethereal by strange twists of this place."

"Do you think my companions will be here?" asked Edward.

"Yes, there's quite a few satellite islands. Most likely your friends will be on those. Getting to them will require killing the sub demons though."

Edward chuckled. "No rest for the weary" he said, making for the pedestal. He twisted the central dial and once again found himself in a different place.

Over the five zones, Edward found friendly allies who allowed him to use their shape shifting abilities. _"So this is what it feels like for Morrigan when she changes form"_ thought Edward. By using a combination of the forms, he was able to slay all five of the sub demons. Returning to Niall, they agreed that freeing his companions would help make the encounter with the Sloth Demon easier, as instead of having to hold one dreamer in check, he would have to hold a few more all at once.

Huolir woke up once Edward patted him a few times.

Sten woke up once his Beresaad bretheren were slain. _"Sten seems to know this is a dream" _thought Edward. _ "I wonder why he didn't free himself?"_

Wynne was trapped in despair over the loss of her mage friends and apprentices. Edward helped her snap out of it and defeat the multiple demons tormenting her.

Nereid was locked in a room with mirrors, with demons only visible in the glass. Every time she turned to face them, they vanished. As she was close to despair, Edward found her hunched on the ground. Pulling her into a hug, he told her how to defeat these demons. Standing back to back, the demons had nowhere to run, and by skewering the mirrors with the demons inside, Nereid was freed.

Leliana was trapped by her faith, with a powerful demon impersonating a Chantry Mother. She took some convincing but Edward reminded her of her vision, and the Chantry Mother morphed into a rage demon, which promptly fell to Leliana and Edwards' blows.

Alistair introduced Edward to his sister. A sister! Edward had to convince the younger man to think carefully about how he arrived there. After the fuzziness cleared, Alistair and Edward slew the demons who had held him enthralled. _"I'll have to ask him about a sister when we get out of here"_ thought Edward.

Morrigan was arguing with a demon disguised as Flemeth. Edward watched, as it seemed that Morrigan knew the demon wasn't her mother. Once the demon started to slap Morrigan, the witch acknowledged that now the demon was getting close to what her mother was like. _"Her mother used to whack her like that? That blow would rattle teeth, it was that hard"_ thought Edward. Morrigan saw Edward and waved him over. "Finally, you come! Please, Edward - kill this demon and we can leave this place" said Morrigan.

"Of course, Morrigan" said Edward with a sigh. With a few chops, the demon Flemeth was killed, and Morrigan was also freed.

With his companions all free, Edward travelled to the central island where the Sloth Demon ruled. Once the demon showed itself, all of Edward's companions appeared, one by one. The demon was masked in a strange headdress and a kind of parody of mage robes. To Edward, the robes looked they were made of strips of skin. Long sinewy arms with evil looking talons on each finger completed the sinister facade.

"So, you have escaped. And freed your companions, no less. My, what a hearty morsel your soul will make, mortal" hissed the demon.

"Come and get it, demon. I killed your minons and my friends and I can crush you like an insect" growled Edward.

"You separated us because you feared us, didn't you?" said Leliana.

"We found each other in this place and together we will end you" yelled Wynne.

"Enough talk! Kill it!" said Nereid, loosing a flame arrow at the demon's face.

Although there were many attacking a single demon, the creature was by no means defenceless. Edward directed Leliana and Nereid to higher ground, where they could rain arrows at the demon. While they fired, Alistair and Edward smashed into it with sword, axe and shield. Sten would take his time, lining up powerful strokes which seemed to knock the fight out of the demon. Morrigan blasted ice spells at the demon, while Wynne directed fists of stone at it, and occasionally threw out a heal spell to Alistair and Edward, who were absorbing the brunt of the demon's ire. Three times, the demon shifted form. When it did, it knocked back Edward and Alistair, but Sten held his ground and stunned it while his friends got back to their feet. Finally, with a furious howl, the demon fell to a combined strike from Sten and Alistair.

As the demon fell to the ground, Niall appeared and stepped forwards. "Quickly friends. When you get out of here, take the Litany of Adralla from my body. This realm will dissolve soon and you'll wake up in the chamber where the Sloth Demon was."

"Your body?" asked Nereid "you seem well enough" she added.

"Ahh the Demon has been sustaining itself on me for too long. For you, it will have been a short nap, but for me I'm afraid it will be too late" said Niall.

Edward stepped forwards and shook the mage's hand. "Thanks for your help Niall. We'll do as you say" he said.

"I did little. You saved your friends, and you saved me. I should be thanking you" said Niall.

Niall looked around, and pointed off to the left. "Look there - you see? It's breaking up. Farewell, friends."

In the direction he was pointing, faint islands were glowing white and fading out to nothingness. This rapidly multiplied until all around them, lights were glowing dazzlingly bright, then fading out. Soon the ground begin to glow in rivulets of light, which spread and intensified. In a short time all the group could see was whiteness, and then... nothing.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Edward.

The others were groggily pulling themselves to their feet. Edward walked over and helped Wynne up, and then Leliana, giving her a quick hug before looking over towards the centre of the room.

"Wynne, come here" said Edward, kneeling by a corpse on the dais in the centre of the room. "I think I found Niall."

Wynne looked over Edwards' shoulder and said "yes, that's him. Poor lad."

Edward found the Litany and passed it to Wynne. "Maker guide you to your rest, Niall" said Edward, quietly.

Alistair knelt opposite, and crossed Niall's arms across his chest. Finding a clean cloth nearby, he draped it over the body, and the men stood up, satisfied that Niall's corpse was attended to sufficiently.

Wynne showed the Litany to Morrigan, and the two mages began to memorise the Litany by practicing it. While they were doing this, the others scouted the room and nearby coridoor. All was clear, so they quickly had something to eat and some water. Feeling refreshed enough to continue, the group moved further along the coridoor to a pair of ornate doors, which were closed. "The stairs to the harrowing chamber are on the other side" said Wynne.

On the other side of the doors was a strange sight. A lone Templar was kneeling behind a glowing barrier. It looked like a larger version of the one that Wynne had thrown across the door at the start of their journey. Moving closer, Edward pulled out his shield and gave the barrier a tap. The barrier distorted like a pool does with a drip of water before wobbling back to its' original shape. _"Weird"_ he thought.

"Hey! Wake up. Who are you?" he yelled at the kneeling Templar.

The Templar straightened up, looking at Edward with crazy eyes. "Not this again! You won't break me, so enough with these games! I ... will ... remain ... strong" he said between clenched teeth, bowing his head and closing his eyes.

Looking back up, the Templar exclaimed "what? Still here? But that always worked before."

"We're not illusions or spirits, boy" said Edward. "We've fought our way up to here. Your man Uldred is up those stairs, correct? What can you tell us" he asked.

"He's no man of mine, stranger. He's got a cabal of blood mages up there, and they've been taking my Templar bretheren up, and twisting and deforming them into those shambling abominations. I don't know what's worse, seeing my friends pulled up the stairs, or seeing them changed coming back down."

"What of Irving? Is he still alive?" asked Wynne.

"I don't know, I've been trapped here" said the Templar.

"We better hurry, Irving might still be alive up there" said Alistair.

"You can't know that. You can't save them. They've been surrounded by blood mages! Their wicked thoughts creeping into your mind..." ranted the Templar. "You have to kill them all!" he yelled.

"Warden, his mind is nearly broken. The time in this cage, plus seeing his friends tortured..." whispered Morrigan. "Anything he suggests would be twisted by hatred."

Turning towards his friends, Edward said in a quiet voice so that the Templar could not overhear "the reason we came here is the mages. Suggesting that we kill them all when we are so close to the top is lunacy. We're going after survivors, first and foremost."

"What if they are blood mages?" said Alistair.

"Then let the bloody Templars sort them out while we move on to the other treaties!" said Edward.

"What the Templar says does make sense, Warden. If we eliminate the Mages, the Wardens could still use the Templars in their army" said Sten.

Edward looked up at his big friend, saying "Sten, you show me one Templar who can fireball twenty darkspawn, and I'll agree with you. But until that day, we're getting the Mages out of here."

"Very well" said Sten, his voice carrying no trace of chastisement.

"What do we do with him?" asked Nereid, flicking her head towards the Templar.

"Nothing we can do" said Alistair.

"Let's go then" said Edward.

-

In the Harrowing Chamber, Uldred and a pair of abominations were torturing some poor slob of a mage. Unseen hands had twisted him into a half kneeling position, and while the group quietly entered the chamber, the mage screamed in agony. Edward could hear his joints cracking and winced. Looking across the chamber, he saw a few mages tied up, and pointed them out to Wynne. Wynne nodded, mouthing the name "Irving" while indicating an elderly looking mage with a grey beard. Uldred and the abominations let out a blast of magical energy and the tortured mage slumped to the floor.

Turning towards the group now assembled in the chamber, he said "well, well. What have we here?"

"You must be Uldred" said Edward.

"Oh, how very observant" said Uldred. "I'm impressed you made it here alive. Unfortunately that must mean you killed my servants."

"Yep. And now its' your turn, baldy" said Edward.

"Wait, wait! No need to be so hasty. I'm trying to have a civilised conversation here" said Uldred.

"You should have thought about that before, you stupid git" said Edward, advancing towards Uldred.

"So be it!" growled Uldred. As he uttered those words, his body began to glow, and the glow changed size. When the glow dissipated, Uldred was revealed in his new form, a terrifying, powerful demon.

Edward shuddered, knowing this would be a tough fight. He charged in, slamming his shield against Uldred's thick, leathery hide. Using his axe like a woodcutter, he concentrated on the knee closest to him. While Edward attacked one side, Alistair attacked the other. Glancing at Edward, he saw the place he was attacking, and thought to himself _"no-one can stand if you chop down their legs"_. He set to work on the other leg, also attacking the knee. Leliana and Nereid had shared their poison arrows out, giving them four each. They fired off all eight, and the Uldred demon began to look like a pin cushion. As he moved, green gas would vent from the wounds caused by the arrows. Morrigan kept up a barrage of fire from her staff, occasionally throwing out a concussion blast to help Sten and Huolir, who had taken down one Abomination and were working on the other one. Wynne kept healing Edward and Sten, and as Uldred began to weave blood magic, she chanted the Litany of Adralla in a clear voice. The Litany worked, as the mage Uldred was trying to enthrall collapsed unconscious. _"Niall, I'm going to have a drink in your honour tonight, my lad!"_ thought Wynne.

Uldred may have thought he could defeat the cocky Warden at the beginning of the fight. After a couple of minutes, he knew he was going to lose it. He had been hacked down and could no longer walk. One leg hung from a tendon above the knee, and the other was laying over near the stairs where Edward had kicked it. His hands had been chopped off when he stupidly decided to grab Edward. His blood was everywhere, he flailed in it with his useless stumps. He could feel poisons working their way through his system through arrows lodged in his hide. Worse still, he couldn't cast, as that bastard pair of Wardens had split off his jaw and severed his tongue. _"I'm fucked"_ he thought. Whimpering, he lay and waited for the blow to end it. _"What's this? They're not attacking. What's going on?"_ he thought. He moved his head, leaving a trail of ichor on the flagstones from his bleeding mouth. _"Oh, those bastards. They really know how to rub it in."_ Wynne stood in front of him, where the Wardens had led her. _"How ignominious. I'm to be killed by a fucking healer"_ thought Uldred. He watched as Wynne cast up a spell with precision and grace, despite her advanced years. _"Beautiful form"_ was his final thought, as a stonefist the size of a mabari turned his head into paste.

Panting, the victorious group members gathered around Irving. Alistair pulled out a dagger and sliced through the ropes holding the old man down. Edward offered a hand and gently pulled the old mage to his feet. Rubbing his wrists to restore circulation, Irving looked around at the carnage left in the chamber. "Well, it's good to see that bastard get his come-uppance" he said, his voice gravelly. "You did well, all of you. Using the Litany of Adralla - genuis!" he said, smiling at Wynne.

"Irving, it was Niall who told us of the Litany" said Wynne.

"Then he should be commended for it. Where is he?" asked Irving.

"He's dead, first enchanter. A lot of people are dead. Greagoir was certain the tower was lost, so he'd sent for the Right of Annulment" said Edward.

"Oh. I see. I grieve for the lives lost, but the Right, you say? We must get down to him immediately."

Irving led the group at a sedate pace back through the tower. They collected the crazed Templar, Cullen, on the way down. The pair were aghast at the carnage that had been wreaked in their home. They were also more than a little awed that a group had managed to make their way up to them through all this chaos. Edward's telling of how they had slain some blood mages with acid and bow made Cullen laugh like a madman. Irving looked at the Templar carefully, his brow furrowed.

Greagoir was true to his word, and the lowest doors were opened. A sigh of relief rose from the trapped mages who had clustered with Petra, Keili and Kinnon. As Edward and his friends had cleared the way up, they had emerged from their bolt holes and cupboards and made their way down to the bottom floor.

Irving promised the aid of the Mages against the blight. Edward shook his hand, grateful that he had finally recruited a force for the Wardens. Alistair and Nereid were beaming, and shook Irving and Greagoir's hands.

Wynne spoke up from beside Irving, saying "Irving, I'd like permission to accompany the Wardens. These Wardens are brave and good, and capable of great things. If they'll have me, I will help them achieve their goals."

Irving looked at Wynne carefully. "Ahh Wynne. I would ask you to stay and help us rebuild, but I can see you have already made up your mind. Very well, I give you permission to follow the Wardens. But know you always have a place here" said Irving.

"We'd be pleased to have you along, Wynne" said Edward.

Nereid grinned and shook Wynne's hand. The other party members also made her feel welcome, even Morrigan was relieved to have another mage about.

On the jetty, Edward looked up at the sky. The sun had risen about half an hour ago, and Carroll was helping the group load into the ferry boat. Sten and Alistair stood close by. Edward fiddled with the device he held in his hand. He had been carrying this rod in his pack for about four days. The merchant said it was a 'control rod' for a golem.

"Where to next, Edward?" asked Alistair.

"Alistair, have you ever heard of a place called Honnleath?"

"A golem would be a good addition to our group" said Sten.

"Yes, I think that place is next. Then Orzammar. We'll see if we can find this Faryn, Sten" said Edward.

Sten nodded, and carefully climbed into the boat. Alistair thought, then said "I'd like to check in at Redcliffe when we have finished in Orzammar."

"Of course" said Edward, as he and Alistair climbed into the boat.

Edward and Sten muscled Carroll out of the seat with the oars and took over the rowing. As the gentle rhythym of the oars lulled some of the group to sleep, Edward muttered "shit!" under his breath.

"What is it, Warden?" asked Sten.

"I didn't arrange a tent for Wynne" said Edward.

Leliana smiled, and as she rubbed her foot against Edward's leg, she said "Wynne can have my tent".

Sten raised his eyebrows at the pair, but said nothing. Edward chuckled to himself. He liked where this was going.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note: **This part is set between the Mage Tower and Honnleath, on the way to Orzammar. In this part, Sten and Edward have a short discussion about swords and such, then a spar with staves. Leliana discovers how the Warden is curious about her. We also learn how Zevran was recruited to the group. Morrigan gets her book._

**Part 7.**

Edward knelt by the fire and looked across the camp at the companions who had joined him. Alistair and Nereid were cleaning their armour quietly, while Huolir was relaxing against Nereid's legs. Morrigan and Leliana were cleaning some herbs together, Leliana chatting about Val Royeaux while Morrigan occasionally snickered at something the redhead had said. Wynne was reading opposite the fire. Even the trader Bodahn and his son Sandal were busy, pulling nails from old crates for some reason. That left the Sten, sitting quietly on a log, sharpening his sword. Edward poured a bowl of hot water and rummaged around in the camp food supplies, finding his box of tea. He added a couple of spoonfuls and stirred them into the hot water before setting the bowl down to brew. Putting back the box of tea, he fetched a couple of mugs and when the brew had finished, he poured two cups. He walked over to the qunari, who looked up, his lavender eyes appraising the Warden cooly.

"Here, Sten. I thought you might like this" he said, passing a cup of tea to the qunari.

Sten closed his eyes an inhaled the steam from the tea. "My thanks, Warden. I didn't know you had any tea" he said.

"How's that sword? I thought it was a very nice blade, great balance." asked Edward.

"It is a good blade. It doesn't take as much of an edge as my old sword though" said Sten.

"What was your old sword made of, Sten?"

"Blue Steel."

Edward whistled. "That stuff is very hard to get. Even Silverite is more common. Hmm... but Blue Steel is brittle, so was the sword laminated?"

"Yes, Warden" said Sten, brightening up visibly. Sten liked swords, and of the three Wardens, Edward was the only one who knew more about them than which end was the dangerous end.

"I duelled against a man with a blue steel scimitar once. He lost before we'd even crossed blades though."

"How did you know?" asked Sten.

"He'd thrown away his scabbard. That means he didn't care if he lost, he didn't expect to use his scabbard again."

"That is an interesting way of looking at things, Warden."

Edward swirled his tea around, thinking. "We will be near Orzammar in a week or ten days, and we will be able to find this Faryn character. If he still has your sword when we see him, you'll let me know, won't you?"

"Indeed. You will know if I put it through this Faryn's head."

"We have to talk to him first though. He might have sold it or stashed it somewhere."

"I understand" said Sten, taking a sip of his tea.

"Tomorrow, I want to talk to you and Alistair about our progress. I don't like this aimless wandering and want to make sure that we don't make unnecessary side trips."

"I agree Warden. As long as we focus on the Archdemon then little else matters."

"To a point. In order to get to it, we need armies to pin it in place. We only have the Mages so far, and the dwarves soon. We can't afford to be short sighted and deny ourselves numbers in the final show."

"I... suppose so".

"If we can get this golem, that should boost our strength quite a bit, don't you think?"

"I will be curious to see such a... thing. We have no such golems in Seheron."

Edward drained his tea with a satisfied smack of his lips.

"Sten, have you finished your tea?" he asked.

Sten drained his cup and nodded.

"Would you like to spar for a little bit? We can just use staves if you like, I don't want you to have to re-sharpen your sword."

"Certainly, Warden. Shall we go to five strikes or three?"

"Three should be alright. We can continue if its' close, how does that sound?"

"As you wish" said Sten, standing up and beginning to remove his tunic. Edward went over to Bodahn's cart to collect the practice staves he and Sten had taken to using. They were each about six feet long, with a central wooden core about as thick as a broom handle. Tightly wrapped around each staff was a thin coil of rope, giving the staff a threaded appearance. Edward walked over to where Leliana and Morrigan were finishing up their herb cleaning. "Good afternoon, ladies" said Edward with a grin.

"Sparring with Sten again, Warden?" said Morrigan, with a smile. "Good thing we made some more poultices."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Morrigan. Leliana, did you want to keep score again?"

"Of course, Edward" said the red headed bard. Leliana and Morrigan enjoyed these bouts, Morrigan loving the visceral close combat, Leliana loved the motion of the fighters. One fighter in particular. She blushed a little. Edward noticed and gave her a wink, saying "don't get too distracted, alright". He smiled and watched Leliana's blush deepen. _I should be the one worrying about distractions_, he thought.

Edward walked back to where Sten was waiting, followed by Leliana and Morrigan. The women sat down on logs, and Nereid, noticing the movement, got up and sat beside Morrigan. Alistair grinned and continued cleaning his chest piece, watching Edward and Sten.

"What are they doing, Leliana?" asked Wynne.

Leliana realised that Wynne would not have seen this style of sparring before, so explained the rules to her. It was full contact with staves. Strikes with staff to any point between neck and knee were valid. If you managed to trip or drop your opponent, that counted as half a point as long as their chest or back made contact with the ground. If you hit your opponent in the head, that was a foul and you lost a point. Only hits with the staff counted as full points. First to three or five points was the winner.

Once Wynne understood that it was a simple match, and not some blood vendetta, she calmed down. "What do they win?" she asked Leliana.

"Oh, nothing really" said Leliana.

"Bragging rights" added Morrigan.

"Sten is the best at it" said Nereid, adding "but Edward is very fast and last time he only lost by half a point to Sten."

"That's true. Alistair sometimes spars, and even Nereid tried once but she tapped out after one hit" said Leliana.

"Tapped out?" asked Wynne.

"Umm.. surrendered? Yielded, yes that's the word. You can yield which ends the fight immediately, but you automatically lose even if you were further ahead on points" said Leliana.

"Nereid was lucky she got hit where she did. Edward and Sten take the sparring very seriously and don't pull their blows. Edward hit her on the hip and she nearly flipped over. If she had have been hit in the arm she would have broken a bone for sure" said Alistair.

"Oh you poor girl! What did Edward do?" said Wynne.

Nereid snickered and said "he was beside himself. It was really sore and for the next day I was limping. But I told him to kiss it better. And he did!"

"He ... what?" said Leliana.

"He came over to the tent later on, and asked what he could do to make it feel better. So I said he could kiss it better. I had been drinking wine to dull the pain, you see. Quite a bit of wine, actually. I didn't think he would take it seriously, but I flashed my hip at him and he kissed me there." said Nereid.

Leliana was silent for a minute, before asking quietly "what was it like?"

"It was nice. His beard tickles though."

Morrigan looked from Nereid to Leliana before bursting out with laughter. Leliana glowered and poked the witch in the ribs. "It's not funny" she said.

Nereid scratched her head, looking at the human women. She had guessed that Leliana liked Edward, you would have to be wilfully blind to miss it. But Edward was like a big brother to her now. _"Oh no"_, she thought. _"Leliana must think there's something going on between Edward and I. I'll have to talk to her later on."_

Edward had stripped off his shirt and passed it to Leliana. The late afternoon sun flicked across his strong torso and arms. Sten faced him and they gave a brief bow to each other, before stepping back a pace. Sten held his staff in both hands, Edward had a looser grip in just his left hand. They circled each other warily. Sensing a chance to get an early point, Edward flicked out at the dirt on the ground, sending up a puff of dust. Spinning around, he aimed a staff end at Sten's mid section, but Sten had blocked with his staff at a perpendicular angle. Using the momentum he had gained, Sten pushed the Warden back and attempted to follow through with a sweeping stroke, but it was parried successfully by Edward, who used the reverse end of his staff to land his first point into Sten's armpit.

Sten began again, raising his staff straight up with both hands, parallel to the ground. Dropping the right side, he span out of Edwards' counter, and looped the staff around to catch Edward on the upswing. The blow did not have much force but it made a noisy smack as it hit the bottom of Edward's ribcage.

Edward jumped back half a step and then rolled to the right, trying to get to Sten's weaker off hand side. Sten pivoted, but didn't notice that Edward had slung his staff between his legs. Siezing the advantage, Edward pushed his staff and brought the qunari down on his back. With a grin, he extended his hand out to help Sten up, who picked up his staff and went back to where they had started.

"Why did he help him up?" asked Wynne.

"Rules. If you drop someone you have to help them up and you start over. It's to encourage standing and fighting, because you lose your momentum if you put someone on the ground" said Alistair.

Edward pressed forwards with a new attack, leading with his left this time, and using the end of the staff like a spear point. Sten parried repeatedly, the sound of the staves making a rhythmic crack, crack, crack as both men manoeuvred for an advantage. Sten saw an opening where Edward had dropped his shoulder, and rammed forwards with his weight, causing Edward to stumble back a step. Sten followed up with a quick flick of his staff, catching Edward on the top of a thigh.

Sten immediately reversed his blow to get his final point, but Edward was nimble enough to bend back out of the radius of the swing. With Sten on the back swing, Edward landed his staff with a splat on Sten's shoulder. He didn't hit it hard, just enough to make noise.

Edward swivelled on the ball of his foot, trying to counter Sten's incoming overhead blow. By flipping his staff across his back, Sten's blow connected but hit the staff instead of Edwards' back. Surprised by this move, Sten backed up and span his staff, reverting it to a preferred two handed grip. Edward looped his staff down, holding it at one end with both hands, giving him a length of staff in front. He aimed blows at Sten's feet, knowing they were invalid targets, but making the qunari step backwards rapidly. Planting his staff in the ground, he dropped low and dodged Sten's incoming strike, which deflected off his staff. Following the motion of the qunari, Edward rammed the bigger man with his shoulder, pulling his staff free with the opposite hand. Sten stumbled and Edward landed a strike across his shoulder blade.

"That's it, Edward - you win!" cried Leliana.

Sten straightened up and looked Edward in the eye. "Well fought, Warden".

Edward shook the qunari's hand with a smile, saying "thanks, Sten. It was a good bout."

Nereid grinned and held out Sten's tunic for him. The qunari took it from the blonde elf with a nod of the head. Leliana held out Edward's tunic for him, beckoning him over. She could feel the heat radiating from him as he gently caressed her fingers, sliding the tunic over his head. Edward caught the bard by the small of her back, bringing her in for a hug. A surprised Leliana savoured the moment, feeling more heat radiating from Edward through his shirt. Alistair clapped Edward on the back, handing him some water. Edward took the flask and drank one handed, keeping a firm grip on Leliana, who clung on, smiling at the Warden.

"Are you sore anywhere, Edward?" asked Leliana.

"Not really, Leliana" he replied.

"Oh. Shame, I thought you may have wanted me to kiss it better."

Edward looked over at Nereid and then down at Leliana. "Heard about that, did you?" he asked, passing the water flask back to Alistair and putting his arms back around Leliana. Alistair went to scrounge for some cheese in his packs and Morrigan grinned at the pair before going back to her campfire, leaving Edward and Leliana alone somewhat. Leliana looked over at Nereid, who was now helping Sten chop up some firewood. "What is there between you two?" asked Leliana.

"Nereid? She's like a ... sister to me, I suppose. Why?" asked Edward. Realisation struck him, and he added "there's nothing _going on_, if you're asking. I was more interested in you, Leliana" he whispered to the bard, following up with a gentle kiss near her ear. He watched with pleasure as her cheeks went nearly scarlet.

"Let's continue this discussion after supper" said Edward, letting Leliana go.

"I ... er, of course, Edward" stammered Leliana.

-ooOOOOoo-

Later that evening, just after sunset, Leliana and Edward were sitting against a log a short distance from the fire. They were facing away from the camp, enjoying the last glow from the setting sun. The evening was not cold yet, but chilly weather came fast in these southern lands and the clear sky heralded a cool night. Leliana was leaning against Edward, plucking at her lute nonchalantly, and Edward was using a stone to get a burr out of one of Nereid's daggers.

"Leliana, I've been meaning to ask you something" said Edward.

"Ask away, Edward" said Leliana.

"I was wondering if you could tell me some more about how you came to Lothering" said Edward.

Leliana paused in her lute plucking.

"Only if you want to, you don't have to" he said.

Leliana swivelled around so she was sitting beside Edward against the log. "No, you should know. I don't know if this will effect us or not."

Edward wiped off Nereid's dagger and checked it with his finger. Nearly there. He resumed work with the whet stone, giving Leliana time to gather her thoughts.

"I came to Ferelden because I was being hunted in Orlais."

"Hunted! I _thought_ you were the empress' daughter in hiding or something!"

Leliana giggled at the image before regaining her compusure and continuing her story. "Nothing so grand. I was framed, betrayed by someone I thought I could trust."

"Who was that?"

"My mentor in the bardic arts, Marjolaine. She taught me how to use words and song to enchant, to blend in as a servant or a high-born lady. I used to serve her, because I loved her and I enjoyed the life."

"So she was a bard as well?"

"Yes. She said she'd retired. She had married well and her husband left her rich. I thought I knew her, but I was blinded by the parts of her that were less than noble."

Edward checked the knife again. Satisfied, he put it and the whet stone down beside him, before using a clean rag to wipe his hands. "What did she do to betray you, Leliana?" he asked.

Leliana put her lute down beside her and put both hands in her lap, knitting her fingers together. "You could say it was my fault. Marjolaine gave me a description of a man to kill, and I was to bring her everything he carried. I found the man and afterwards, I found sealed documents on his body."

"Ah. You opened them?" asked Edward.

"I did. My curiosity got the better of me. It turned out that Marjolaine had been selling all kinds of secrets about Orlias to Nevarra, Antiva and other places."

"Treason?" said Edward. He whistled quietly. "Traitors don't get treated kindly."

"I found that out. I re-sealed the documents, but I told Marjolaine that I feared for her life. She just laughed off my concern. She said it was all in the past, and I believed her. She told me that she was destroying the documents to cover that part of her life."

"But if she destroyed them, how did... oh. She didn't destroy them, did she?" asked Edward.

Leliana shook her head. "She held them out when the Orlesian guards came for me. They'd been altered by her to make me look like the traitor. The guards did terrible things to me... tortured me for names of people who I didn't even know. When they finished, I was to be executed."

"How did you get away?"

"Well the bard skills I'd learned were good enough to get me out of the prison. I went cross country to the coast, then boarded a boat and came to Ferelden. I stopped running at Lothering."

Edward put an arm around Leliana, offering her warmth and support. "You'll be safe with me, Leliana."

Leliana sighed and leaned into the Warden. "Thanks, Edward. Thank you for listening. You have no idea how it feels to talk to someone about it after so long" said Leliana.

"Talk about what?" said Nereid, jumping over the log. "Did you fix my knife, Edward?"

Edward passed the knife to Nereid, who looked at it carefully. "I don't know how you do it, Edward. Alright, I owe you two night watches now."

Seeing the two humans in a quiet mood, Nereid smiled and said "hmm. Looks like it will be cool tonight, Leliana. Did you know Grey Wardens have warmer skin than other people? Just saying, that's all..." Nereid shot the pair a smile and took her knife back to the main camp to show Sten.

"Is that true?" asked Leliana.

"I'm sure you can find out somehow" said Edward, as Leliana straddled on top of him, before leaning forwards and wrapping Edward in a strong hug.

"Mmmm, she's right" mumbled Leliana.

-ooOOOOoo-

The next day, just before lunch, the group of friends were trudging along a track towards Honnleath. They would make it to the town early the next day if they kept going at this pace. Darkspawn had attacked them twice recently, so everone was a little more alert than usual. They heard a commotion ahead, and a scruffy looking woman ran towards them. Stopping in front of Edward, she gasped "please, please come quick. They've attacked the wagons!" before turning around and running back in the direction she had originally come from.

"Did you smell her?" said Edward to Nereid, who was up front on Edward's left.

"I did. Lyrium" said Nereid.

Edward and Nereid had noticed that the Mages had this odd odour of Lyrium, which smelled a little like copper or blood mixed with mace. It was a peculiar smell, and of the others, only Sten and of course Huolir seemed to be able to pick it up. Alistair had had exposure to Lyrium while he was training as a templar, and both mages gave it little thought, as they were so used to it.

"Ready arms, everyone. This is a trap we're going to spring" said Edward.

"We should find out who they are" said Nereid.

Edward nodded. "If there's a leader, try to knock them out, we can question them later."

Leliana and Nereid fanned out, readying their bows. Alistair came along side Edward, unslinging his shield and sword, while Sten readied his two hander. Wynne and Morrigan unslung their staves and fell back behind Sten, getting good views of the party. Huolir's hackles were raised and he growled in anticipation.

Approaching the cart the strange woman had spoken about, Edward quickly cast his eye over the scene. There looked like trip wires across two paths running along side and above the road, like a washout. The cart was broken, but the boxes were all stacked upright, not haphazardly like they would have been if they'd fallen out. Edward whispered to Sten "get the mages to focus on the hills on either side of us. There's traps at the bottom of the paths." Alistair heard this as well, and tightened his grip on his sword while Sten passed the message to the mages.

"Nereid, Leliana - kill that mage, then help Morrigan and Wynne with the sides. We'll break their centre" said Edward to Nereid and Leliana. Both women nodded, nocking their arrows.

Steadily moving forwards, the group noticed an elf up front with a couple of hook-like tattoos on his cheek. Narrowing his eyes, he let out a cry of "the Grey Warden dies here!" before pulling out a pair of swords, dripping with viscous green goo.

Immediately, a group of archers emerged on each side of the road, forming lines above the cart. The mage woman turned and began to cast something, but she immediately stopped as Nereid's arrow found a nice new home in her throat. Leliana put a second arrow into the mage's gut, before swinging around and calmly picking off the archers on her side of the road. Nereid followed suit, her arrows causing the archers to keep their heads down. Morrigan cast a small localised lightning storm over one side of the road, electrocuting several archers. While she was casting, Wynne had thrown a stone fist at the archers on her side, and began to cast an earthquake spell to follow up. Edward and Alistair charged, with Sten and Huolir following in their wake. Edward smashed his shield into a soldier, following up with a blow from his axe that very nearly severed the man's head. Alistair used his shield to block a mid level blow, using the momentum to spin the soldier around and slice open his back. Alistair kicked the dying man in the arse, and the soldier fell in a crumpled heap on the ground. Sten bellowed a huge war cry and raised his two hander high over a soldier. The man, seeing a giant rearing over him, panicked, dropping his sword and running. He ran full force into the cart and knocked himself out. Edward wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he saw Sten smile as the soldier fell, shortly before Sten buried his sword into the clumsy soldier's inert form. Huolir had jumped onto a soldier and while he frantically tried to throw the dog off, he collapsed under the weight. He gurgled and screamed as Huolir ripped out his throat and then went to work on his face.

Edward reached the mage and saw that she was still alive. Muttering "stupid bitch" to her, he calmly flipped his axe around and buried the maul side in the mage's heart. Alistair used his shield to blunt the attack of the elf with the hook tattoos, but he was a nimble fighter, and seemed to be able to dodge out of the way of Alistair's attacks. As the pair fought, Morrigan and Wynne had moved up and were now closer to Edward and Sten. Edward caught Morrigan's eye, and signalled the word 'paralyse' to her. She smiled and cast, freezing the elf in place. Alistair, happy at his friends' support, punched the elf in the face with the pommel of his sword, knocking him out. "Thanks, Morrigan" he said, while gulping in lungfuls of air.

"You are welcome, Alistair" replied the witch.

"All clear? Anyone hit?" asked Edward.

"Clear back here" said Leliana, rifling through the closest archer's pockets. Nereid was already doing the same on the other side of the road.

"Let's clean this lot out, then have a talk to this elf here" said Edward.

"I'll watch him, Warden" volunteered Morrigan.

"You and Huolir both, it seems" said Edward. The Mabari was also keeping an eye on the elf, occasionally giving a low, throaty growl.

"Hey Nereid, come and have a look at this one we left alive. Are they Dalish marks?" asked Edward, signalling for his blonde friend to come over. Nereid knelt down beside Edward, looking curiously at the elf's face.

"Not Dalish, no..." she mumbled.

Leliana had also joined the others, leaning partially on Edward to get a close look at the elf. "I have seen markings like this before, but I didn't know what they meant" she said.

"We better wake him up, let's get this over with" said Edward.

Alistair grunted, and taking a mouthful of water from his waterskin, he spat it into the face of the elf. His eyes flickered open and he stared up at his captors.

"What's your name?" asked Edward.

"My name is Zevran. I'm a member of the Antivan Crows, and I was brought here to slay any remaining Grey Wardens."

Edward murmurred to Leliana "do you know anything about these Crows? I remember something but it was ages ago when I was in the Free Marches."

"They're an order of assassins out of Antiva. Known for getting the job done, and expensive to hire" said Leliana.

"Who hired you to do this?" asked Nereid.

Zevran eyed Nereid up and down before answering "a fellow in Denerim called Loghain put out the contract."

"Damn, he's not pulling any punches. I don't know whether to feel flattered or frightened" said Edward. He looked down at the elf, thinking.

Zevran looked over at Edward and said "I have a suggestion, Wardens, if you are willing to listen."

Edward nodded "go ahead."

"Well here's the thing. I was contracted to kill you and as you can see it hasn't exactly gone to plan. With all my hirelings dead and all my marks alive, even if you let me go, as soon as I got to Antiva, I'd be slow roasted as a failure to the Crows. So here's my suggestion. What if you were to take me on and let me serve you instead?"

"But won't the Crows come looking for you?" said Edward.

"Well that may happen, but yours is the kind of group that would give the Crows a reason to hold back their blades" said Zevran.

"Let's talk loyalty then. What's to stop you just picking up where you left off in a weeks' time?" asked Edward.

"I'm extremely loyal. To a point. The point being where I am expected to die for failing."

"Give us a minute" said Edward.

Tapping Nereid on the shoulder and pulling Alistair into a group, Edward spoke in a quiet voice "Alistair, Nereid - I think we should take this elf with us. He's got skills that would help us, he's willing, and we can kill him if we need to."

Alistair thought for a minute, while Nereid said "fine by me. I don't think he'll try anything, not with so many of us now. What do you think, Alistair?"

"Desparate times call for desparate measures. But if he kills me, Edward, I'm coming back to haunt you, I'm letting you know right now" said Alistair.

Turning back to Zevran, Edward extended his hand. Surprised, Zevran grasped it, and Edward hauled him to his feet. Edward looked at the elf carefully, then said "alright, Zevran. Welcome."

Zevran gave a short bow, and said "I hereby pledge my oath of loyalty to you, until such a time as you choose to release me from it. I am your man, without reservation... this I swear." 

-ooOOOOoo-

Edward rummaged through his packs, finally bringing out the black tome. "Here it is, Morrigan. I'm sorry I didn't give it to you straight away." Edward extended his arms and passed the book to Morrigan.

Morrigan's eyes widened and she spoke "but you found it! No matter that you carried it for a few days, Edward. I am grateful indeed." She pawed at the book like a child with a favourite toy.

"What do you think is in there?" asked Edward.

"I'm not sure, Edward. But this book represents the one time that a secret was able to get away from my Mother. I'm not about to let this opportunity for study slip by."

"So I take it you're not going to return it to her" chuckled Edward.

"What? And lose the chance to learn the contents!" said Morrigan, before looking up at Edward and seeing the grin on his face. Morrigan laughed as well "no, Edward. I will think of it as a going away present that I have had to collect myself."

"Well, Morrigan. I hope you find something useful in there. Goodnight!" said Edward.

Morrigan was thinking and didn't reply immediately. Looking up at the retreating form of Edward, she said "Edward! Thank you. This means a lot to me."

Edward waved and went back to the main camp.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note:** A Paragon of Her Kind. This portion of the tale will be spread over more than one chapter. Who to throw their weight behind? Bhelen or Harrowmont? Edward and co. must wrestle with this decision. First we have to deal with a certain bloodnut merchant.  
Additional note - frantically busy IRL but still will try to continue this story. This chapter is quite short compared to the others.  
_

**Part 8.**

"Alistair, I'm telling you, it's supposed to be red. Or orange if they're not quite ripe. How the hell did you get tomato soup to go grey?" asked Edward.

"Years of practice" said Alistair.

Edward looked around at his companions, who had had a rough night due to Alistair's latest culinary disaster. Thinking on it, Edward had only kept Alistair on cooking duty in the vain hope that he might get better. He even showed him how to make scrambled eggs one morning. Alistair had produced some unidentifiable crispy black mush. At least it wasn't grey.

"You realise we've lost half a day because of your... medicinal soup" continued Edward.

"I can't help it if your stomachs are too delicate for my cooking. I feel fine!" said Alistair, grinning.

"You eat enough cheese to block a privy, that's why" mumbled Edward.

"Alistair is a gifted cook" muttered Morrigan.

"You see! Even the witch appreciates my talent."

"I didn't say talented. I mean gifted enough to be the first person alive who can actually burn water" continued the witch. "I can see why you brought the assassin along, clearly you have no fear of poisons."

The light hearted grumbling continued as the group approached the gates of Orzammar. There was a veritable tent city set up around a circular dais below the steps that led up to the huge city doors.

"Sten - we should have a look for Faryn. Everyone else just have a look around, we can meet back here in fifteen minutes"

Edward and the qunari looked over at the closest stall, where a pair of dwarves were selling robes and other cloth goods. He spied some cloaks in the dwarves' stock, so while he purchased some, he asked the stall owner "tell me, friend, is there a stall holder in this place by the name of Faryn? He's a human with red hair, that's all we have to go on."

"Well, as you're buying a good amount of stock, I can throw you the information for free. Head up to the stairs, but just before you get there, take a right. He should be floating around there somewhere."

"Thanks, friend" replied the warden.

Gathering his string-wrapped bundle of goods, Edward and Sten soon found the tent of Faryn, and the man himself was slouched in front if his tent, snoozing. Edward tapped his boot with his foot, and the man's eyes snapped open. "Oh. 'ello to you. Anything I can do you for?" he asked, eyeing Sten carefully.

"What sort of stuff do you have here?" asked Edward.

"Oh, I got all kinds of nearly new weapons. Axes, swords, shields, you name it."

"_Nearly_ new?"

"Well shall we say they've been 'broken in' and leave it at that?" he replied, his eyes flicking up to the qunari, as he nervously licked his lips.

Seeing this, Edward asked "what's the problem? Is my qunari friend here making you nervous?"

"I... oh shit. No nothing like that."

"Spill it Faryn, we know you were at lake Calenhad about a month ago. You found a qunari sword. His sword. We want it back, that's all."

"I did, yes sir you're right. But I sold it on the way here."

"You what?" growled Sten, narrowing his eyes.

"I sold it. To a collector in Redcliffe. A dwarf, name of 'Dwyn'. Andraste's knickers, I ain't got it no more."

Sten stepped forward, but Edward held up his hand. "He's telling the truth, Sten. Look at his hands, you've scared the shit out of him."

Sten looked at the traders' hands, and they were shaking like an alcoholic waiting for his morning drink. Satisfied, he backed off. The warden had delivered - again - and maybe in Redcliffe he could recover his sword.

"Thanks for the help, Faryn. Now tell me, have you got anything in the way of shields, my one's going to split soon. Also I need a scabbard and some whetstones with oils."

While Edward dickered with the merchant and bought some items, Sten wandered over towards the circular dais, and saw Leliana sitting there. He nodded and sat down beside her, knowing that he wouldn't need to say anything because the garrulous bard would start soon enough.

"I see you did not get your sword, Sten. Did you get another lead?"

"Yes. A place called Redcliffe."

"Ahh. That's where Alistair wants to go after we are done with the dwarves."

Sten nodded and murmurred "excellent."

Leliana tapped Sten on the arm and offered him a bag of cookies she had bought. "I know you like these" she said, as the qunari closed his eyes and sniffed his baked treats.

"Thankyou, Leliana" said Sten, before munching happily on his gift.

Edward came over with his bundle of goods and Zevran in tow. "Its' remarkable that it could have gone on for so long. How they get fresh food is beyond me" said Edward.

"But there it is, and dwarves are not known for sweeping changes" said the elf.

"What did you buy, Edward?" asked Leliana, seeing his bundle.

"Shield for me, and a few things for my friends - ah, the others are coming, so I'll pass them out here."

Edward laid his shield on the ground with a wrapped parcel above it. Opening the bundle of cloaks he had bought earlier, he shuffled through them. "Nereid and Morrigan already have cloaks, but I thought that with the cold weather you could all use one. Of course we're about to enter an underground city which is built over lava, but they'll be useful when we leave. Zevran, here's yours" he said, carefully passing a charcoal grey cloak to the elf. He passed a scarlet cloak to Wynne with a smile, and a grey one similar to his own over to Alistair.

"You know you don't have to do this, Edward. But thanks, I appreciate it" said Alistair.

"Sten, here's yours" said Edward, passing a bottle green cloak to Sten. Edward held out a royal blue cloak to Leliana, who smiled and stepped in to it, with Edward fastening the clasp around her neck.

-ooOOOOoo-

At the gates, a well spoken dwarf was speaking to a group of humans, and as the Wardens approached, they were able to make out the gist of the conversation. When they questioned the guard, he readily told them the news. Orzammar has no king, the previous one having passed on a few weeks ago. The Assembly which was responsible for choosing a new King was deadlocked. The Kings' son Bhelen and the Kings' top advisor Harrowmont were now each vying for the throne. Orzammar was closed for business!

When Edward said "the Grey Wardens have need of their traditional dwarven allies. I have a treaty here that formalises that agreement", the leader of the group of humans' eyes narrowed. Pointing an accusatory finger at Edward, he cried "the Wardens betrayed and killed our King! I demand that you arrest this ... stain on the honour of Ferelden!"

The dwarf sighed and stepped back to his comrades guarding the door. He clearly didn't give a shit. Zevran, who had been lounging at the back of the group, slipped stealthily up behind one of the other men, who he suspected was a mage. Edward saw the elf flicker out of sight and weighed up his options.

"I am the ambassador for King Loghain!" the leader of the men screeched.

Quickly closing the gap between them, Edward lunged at the ambassador, and locked one vice-like hand around his throat, giving it a good squeeze. His companions began to draw their weapons, but Zevran pointed a stiletto at the neck of the mage, who held out both hands in surrender. "You touch your weapons and this man dies. Ambassador or not, I couldn't care less" said Edward.

"Loghain ... will ... hear about ... this" the ambassador rasped. His clawing fingernails made no mark on Edward's steel gauntlets.

Locking his legs, Edward lifted the man by his throat, holding him a handspan above the ground. "You feel that? That's what it's like when they hang traitors like you. Run to your false king. Deliver a message, like the errand boy you are. Tell him that the Grey Wardens are building up to fight the blight. Tell him to stand with us or he will fall before us."

"I... as you... say, Warden" spluttered the ambassador. He heaved for air as his weight began to choke him. Edward dropped him and quickly rammed him back into his group. Zevran released the mage, and the ambassador's party stumbled away from the gates. Nereid and Leliana kept their bows trained on them as they half ran, half staggered down the hill.

The head dwarf guard approached Edward with a smile and shook his hand. "Five days I've had to put up with that bloody idiot on my steps. Warden, you've done me a great service. Now let me see the treaty you mentioned earlier."

Edward passed over the treaty, and the dwarf studied it carefully. "Hmm. It has the royal seal, so you can go inside. Be aware, Warden, nothing will happen until there's a king on the throne. I wish you success."

"_King_ Loghain" muttered Edward, as they walked inside.

"I heard it too, Edward" said Alistair.

"Hard to believe that he can basically..." he looked around to make sure only Alistair and Nereid were in earshot before continuing, "...fuck over the army and the Wardens, gets the King killed and then before his body is cold he's named himself as successor."

"I thought his daughter was still the Queen" muttered Alistair.

"That's Anora - yeah I thought so too, seeing as she's Cailan's widow."

The conversation was interrupted by a strange scene as they entered the Commons. A clump of dwarves were arguing about who should be the next King. This was the first glimpse of the two contenders that the gate guard had mentioned. An altercation followed by raised voices and then raised weapons led to a dead dwarf on the floor. The mob scattered, each faction taking themselves to their respective bolt holes. An enterprising scavenger picked up the body and dragged it off somewhere, while a guard came forward to greet the Wardens.

"You see, this is why we don't let outsiders in while we're deciding on our king."

"What does it matter? We're not writing a bloody travel brochure" sighed Edward.

"Piece of advice for you, Wardens. Go to the Diamond Quarter. Visit the Shaperate and learn some of our history. You'll find Orzammar places great weight on tradition. While you're there you need to see Steward Bandelor, in the Chamber of the Assembly. He can fill you in on the wheeling and dealing that has happened so far."

Edward nodded his thanks. "Now if you don't mind, I've got to find someone to clean up these bloodstains" said the guard, and with that he wandered off.

Nereid took the front with Huolir, and she soon sound a quiet looking inn. That wasn't very hard to be honest, because of the blocked city gates there was no real call for inns. As an added bonus, the innkeeper was able to house the ten in the group in five rooms. Alistair and Morrigan had their own smaller rooms, Sten shared with Zevran, while Wynne, Nereid and Huolir bunked down in a slightly larger room opposite the room shared by Edward and Leliana. Shale was content to rest at the head of the stairs.

In the common room downstairs, Edward suggested a plan. There was no King, and they needed a King to promise troops against the Blight. "There's two candidates and we have to choose one" said Edward. "What we will do is go to the Chamber of Assembly first and talk to the Steward. He might tell us how to talk to these candidates. Alistair, Zevran and Leliana will come with me for that."

His friends nodded.

"Sten and Nereid, we need to find armourers. Some of our gear is in poor condition and needs re-edging or just flat out replacing. Can you have a look around and see what you can come up with?"

"Sure, Edward. We need to restock on strings and arrows too. Leli and I were talking about this yesterday" said Nereid, looking over at the bard.

"That's fine. Sten knows what we need. Morrigan, can you go with them too. Lyrium should be easy to get here, and they may have some magic items that can help yourself and Wynne."

Morrigan inclined her head, and Edward passed her a coin pouch.

"Wynne and Shale, I'd like you to go to the Shaperate. From what the innkeeper says, it's like a library. There might be something that the Shaper of Memories can help us with."

"If this Shaper is not useful, what are we to do then?" asked Shale.

"We'll be close by, come and find us at the Chamber of Assembly."

The group mumbled amongst themselves, each fairly comfortable with their tasks. Morrigan slid the coin pouch over to Nereid. "Now after the last week or so of walking up a mountain, and Alistair's attempt to kill us all by diaorrhea, after we get these jobs done, I think we have earned a rest, so we can all take the rest of the day off. I'm sure there's interesting things to do" said Edward, glancing at Leliana.

Everyone seemed to think this was a fine idea, and as they filed out in three groups, Edward wondered how the hell he and his friends had gone from sleeping in a tent to potential kingmakers in less than a day. The Maker works in mysterious ways, indeed.

-ooOOOOoo-

Edward looked over Orzammar from the room he was sharing with Leliana. He had removed and cleaned his armour, and had been painting a device on his new shield. The whole group seemed pleased to be able to rest for half a day after the steep, week-long trek up the mountains. Even Shale appeared to be happy, the golem was over with Wynne having another chat with the Shaper of Memories. Turning back to his shield, he tested to see if the white paint was dry yet. It was still tacky, so he returned to the vista over the city. It was a strange place, this Orzammar. To Edward it seemed like the opposite of a city. On the surface, you start with a blank space and you build stuff on top, eventually filling in the gaps. Down here, you started with a block, and hacked out the space, leaving the buildings behind. It was all topsy turvy.

The initial meetings with the guards and the Speaker of the Assembly hadn't gone well. The two stand out dwarf candidates for the throne were Bhelen Aeducan, son of the last king; and Pyral Harrowmont, his last advisor. There were all kinds of rumours floating around. Bhelen killed his brothers. Bhelen was barred from seeing his father as he lay dying. Harrowmont poisoned the king. Bah, it looks like the Grey Wardens would have to solve the diminutive dynastic dilemma themselves, he thought.

Edward, Alistair, Leliana and Zevran had met with both of the right hand men - the 'seconds' of the kings-in-waiting. Edward thought Vartag Gavorn, Bhelen's second, was an arrogant, conniving little shit. Harrowmont's second, Dulin Forender, was a lot more agreeable, but he had to agree with Zevran that Harrowmont seemed the weaker of the two candidates. However Edward knew that these dwarves didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, as once the Wardens were dealing with the Prince and Lord Harrowmont, the seconds were irrelevant. They were glorified bouncers, nothing more.

"Ahh, there you are!" came a familiar voice from behind him.

"I'm always impressed by how quietly you can move, Leliana" said Edward, half turning towards the bard.

"What were you doing - oh, you're painting your shield" she said.

"I'm waiting for it to dry a bit more before I put on the last part. I was thinking about these dwarves."

"Anything I can help with?" asked Leliana, moving up beside Edward.

"Look out there. They built this marvellous place out of solid rock" gestured Edward. "But now they can't even pick a king."

"It is beautiful, in a way. It seems so vast, especially from up here" said Leliana, facing towards the view.

Edward slipped his arms around Leliana's waist from behind, leaning her back on his chest. He gave her a friendly kiss on the neck. "You know, I got a lecture from Wynne about _us_" he said.

"Really? What did she say?"

"A Warden's duty comes before all else, that sort of thing. She wanted me to think about ... if I was in a situation where your life was in the balance, what would I do. I think she was trying to get me to back off, to not get too involved."

Leliana's heart skipped a beat, and carefully she asked "what did you say back?"

"I laughed. I told her I was already way past that stage. I told her I loved you."

"You what?" said Leliana, turning around with a smile on her face.

"Come on, Leliana, you know it's true. Of course I do. Then I told Wynne that there was a poet called Russell who once said 'to fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead'. Given her ... situation ... I thought it might give her something to chew on."

Leliana's eyes were shining, and she was beaming at Edward. Looking at the bard, he said "even just looking at you here, I know I said the right thing."

"Of course you did, and you don't need to ask. I love you too" said Leliana. She turned her gaze upwards, and her lips found Edwards' as they kissed deeply.


End file.
